The next morning, just as the sun begins to rise above the horizon, Ben is being woken up by Anabella.
"Good morning Ben, it's time for us to start our lessons." "Mommy let me ..." Ben doesn't really seem to want to get up yet.
Ten minutes later Anabella and Ben leave the hut. Ben rubs his left ear, it has gone red. When he refused to get up, he got to know another side of Anabella. A side that has nothing to do with the gentle, graceful dryad. But a side that allows absolutely no argument.
Arriving in front of the huge tree, the dryad has already conjured up a wooden table and chair. She has also conjured up a kind of board. The board consists of a thin stone and is held up by a tree that has grown around the stone.
"I must say I am always amazed how you manage to make plants and trees grow according to your wishes." But Anabella doesn't answer, instead she stands next to the board. "Ben, I know you're a curious little fellow, but if I always answer your questions, we'll never get anywhere. We're going to start with the most important subject today, which is geography." She answers and continues her monologue.
"There are several continents on Gaia. We are currently on Draco. The continents were named after different beings, which mainly exist only there. Since our continent is called Draco, it means that this is the preferred realm of the dragons.
The other continents are called Lamia and Griffin. Both should be self-explanatory. There is also the lost Continent and the Forsaken Continent. Both are special. The lost Continent is not a real continent, but it is on the back of a turtle.
The turtle is Glavia. Glavia is Gaia's daughter and protects the lost continent. The problem is that Glavia is always on the move, which makes teleportation circles useless because the coordinates are constantly changing. The name " lost " comes from the fact that the world turtle dives down often and thus the continent vanishes for a while.
The forsaken continent is a continent that is avoided by the awakened races. This continent is too dangerous for most of the inhabitants and only the elite can survive there. It is said that there is a curse that lies on this continent, but if you ask me I rather think that the monsters and plants are just too strong."
Anabella goes on and on about the continents and their locations. The kingdom of Synthri where Ben thought he grew up is on the Griffin continent. But he himself is on the continent of Draco. When he asks the dryad about it, she says that he has been on Draco all along because his card is not strong enough to take him to another continent.
The two spend the whole morning together. As the sun slowly reaches its zenith, Anabella decides that it is enough for today and that he should eat a portion. After the lunch break, the two wolves will continue with the training.
When he goes to the father-daughter duo, they are already waiting. Malwin's daughter is already excited but her father holds her back. "Hello Ben. Are you ready for your training. Today's objective is catch and climb." Ben is confused about the training method and asks Malwin if playing is really the right method.
Malwin snorts and replies " even for a human you are really weak. When I chased you here ... I meant brought you of course I had to hold back a lot. You were so slow. We're going to recreate the same scenario. My brat chases you and you try to escape. No magic, no weapons and no low blows. You have a 30 second head start." Ben is about to ask what he means by low blow when the Malwin is already at 27 seconds.
Ben doesn't think, but starts running. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Malwin's daughter and she already seems excited. He counts down in his head and when it is about 0 he hears the howling of a wolf. That is the sign. The hunt has begun.
Ben runs through the forest. But he is not nearly as fast as he had hoped. He has to watch where he is going all the time.
There are tripping hazards of roots, branches or bushes everywhere. A few minutes later it happens and Ben's foot gets caught and he falls to the ground. Instinctively, he puts his hands in front of his face to protect himself.
Nevertheless, he hits the ground hard. His hands are scratched up and he is in pain. The fall has left Ben slightly dazed and so he doesn't notice a black bundle charging at him from behind. The furry bundle jumps and sails through the air. Ben turns around but it is already too late.
The little wolf rams Ben in the pit of his stomach. Ben goes down again. Breathing heavily from the attack, Ben lies on his back as he turns to the side and sees Malwin, but he only says one word, "pathetic", and Ben feels the same.
When Ben catches his breath he asks " I thought no low blows." The wolf replies " That wasn't a low blow. Teeth or claws would count as a low blow. Also the face or genitals but not the stomach." Ben just shakes his head.
It's 1 to 0 for the wolves, but Ben doesn't want to be defeated so quickly and so round 2 begins. But round 2 ends just like round 1 or round 3 or 4 or 5. At some point Malwin decides it's enough. Ben insists he will win the next round but Malwin says his body will thank him tomorrow for the time out.
Ahead of Malwin, the two wolves and the boy march back to Anabella's home. Once there, she is already waiting for them. In her hand she holds a cup with a foul-smelling liquid. Ben eyes the dryad suspiciously, "This isn't poisoned, is it?" . She just laughs and says "drink it, you'll thank me tomorrow". Ben trusts the dryad and takes a deep breath.
He drains the cup in one huge gulp. He has to make an effort not to vomit it all out again. That's how disgusting this herbal brew was.
Anabella laughs and points to a spot in the grass. "Now we come to meditation. I can only explain the basics. For the rest, you must find out for yourself. It is different for every being. That's why there is no simple guide on how to drift into meditation."
So, the dryad begins to explain to Ben how he reaches the trance-like state. Controlled breathing in and out and completely emptying his mind. He is supposed to go into himself and ignore everything around him, but Ben quickly finds out that this is easier said than done. After only half an hour he has had enough and wants to get up again, but a hand pushes him back to the floor.
It is Anabella and she has the same expression on her face as this morning. A smile that her eyes can't reach. "Ben there is another method, but this one is much more uncomfortable. So please squat down and keep trying until I say stop. Otherwise I will be forced to use the other method." Ben looks at his other hand and it is holding a stick about 1 metre long.
It dawns on him what the other method is and he doesn't like it at all. As the sun slowly sets Anabella decides enough is enough for today and Ben should lie down for tomorrow.
As he disappears into the hut, Malwin emerges from a shadow "Malwin we'll give him 3 soft days and then we'll start working him over. We can't protect him from the big world forever. At some point he has to learn that the world out there is cruel." She sighs and shakes her head.
The next morning Ben wakes up and he feels horrible. His leg muscles ache. He has slept badly because of it. When he leaves the hut Anabella is already waiting at the table. "Good morning Ben, you look exhausted. I made you another herbal brew. It should ease the pain and help relieve your sore muscles."
A little small talk later, the two continue with Geography. Today the kingdoms of Draco are on the timetable. In the afternoon he goes to the wolves and they train his body. In the evening it's meditation. Ben still can't get any further with meditation, but Anabella says she will only let him continue when he learns this skill. And so the days go by with the same rhythm.