James only heard a small portion of the conversation between Johnson and the head office. His conversation took so long that there was plenty of time to cook up a meal. Part way through the conversation it began to look more and more like SPAM was going to really grill Johnson on what had happened.
He couldn't hear most of the conversation, someone was a big talker in the head office and it took quite a while for Johnson to get anything in edgewise. However, Johnson was not anything if he was not bull headed and stubborn. Eventually, some bargain was struck and James' master limped into the dinning room and had dinner with his apprentice.
"Tomorrow they are going to send me another apprentice. And they said they would contact you and negotiate a settlement. I am not sure what that will be, but if you aren't satisfied just let me know."
Johnson eventually said.
"You will have to share your work with the new apprentice. I don't like having two apprentices, but given the situation it will have to do."
"I will work it out, master."
Replied James. It had to work out. Johnson was his life line to figuring out what was happening.
"Good, you are the strangest apprentice I have ever had. But enough of all that. Let's talk about your problems. The stamina and mana pills you have taken don't seem to be curing you. They should have. ... There is something going on, what is it?"
His master asked him.
It was hard for James to be completely honest. Something within him told him to keep the mice a secret. But he had thought about what to do off and on and had decided on a course of action.
"Teacher, I have an ability called [Fertility] which has some strange effects when contracting a pet."
James started.
"Yes, go ahead."
"Well, I contracted moss, and well instead of taming just the moss within my contract array all the moss within the dungeon was contracted… or most of it ... maybe..."
Nodding to James' story Johnson waved for James to continue.
"Well, the thing is that I can't even count how many sprigs of moss I have as pets now. And each one of them takes Mana to empower. It isn't much Mana, but it is far more than I can handle. The pills are keeping me alive."
When James was done his master sat and thought for a few minutes.
"Okay first question. Why don't you used the much more potent Mana potion instead of mana pills?"
"Well at first I lost consciousness and my companions only had stamina pills to keep me alive with. And then after that, well I wasn't sure what was wrong. All I know is that the Mana pills you gave me worked."
Hanging his head embarrassed James couldn't look in his teacher's eyes.
"Since it is just a matter of my pets draining my stamina and mana, I don't believe that a mana potion will help. It might be able to provide more mana, but I can't really store much mana to begin with so it would just be a waste."
To his logic his teacher just nodded.
"It is okay, just shows you had some sense. Toxins from more than one pill would just make your poisoning that much worse. I have to say that you should always take Mana pills with you into dungeons. They are life savers in so many ways."
There was more, but the old man paused to see if James was understanding.
"As for having your mana pool full? That is really important. Your mana nodes can only be at rest when your pool is full. Until they are they will continue to effect your state of being. Of course normally they only really need to be full for a few hours a day. Normally during sleep, but for you your pool will never be full and so your mana system will always be upsetting your mental balance."
Johnson lectured. And then as if this small explanation was enough his master moved on.
"Now, can you show me your pet moss? This is really very interesting I have never thought to contract moss before and I have never met anyone with moss as a pet."
"I don't have the moss with me. There was too much to take back from the dungeon so I just left it all there."
His excuse sounded weak to himself, but James but it was really close to the truth so he thought it was better to explain that way.
"Right, well, then next time you go to that dungeon bring back some samples. It will be good to study. Not just to see what skills and magic moss can inherit, but also to research how to evolve your moss."
"Yes, master."
"Now let's talk about your ability, if you are willing. We don't have to. I am just curious."
Johnson paused to wait for an answer.
"Sure, I am confused about it as well..."
"Ha! I remember when I first contracted a pet. Those were the days! My ability is called [Complete], it is a unique one like yours. So many people have the standard abilities, it is always nice to talk with someone who has an unique ability. The struggle is real."
His master even shared his own ability as if it was nothing, encouraging him a little.
"You have a unique ability, too?"
"Yes, when they told me about it at my first review, I was completely confused. I mean I understood what the word complete meant, but as an ability? No. I had no idea. It took me years to really get a good understanding of what it was. So don't worry if you are confused with yours."
"[Complete], that sounds so final. What could it possibly mean? My own ability at least gives people a really good idea, even though the use of it seems to be different than expected."
Keeping the conversation going James let go of his concerns just to talk for a bit.
"I never tell people, not even my former apprentices about my ability, but in your case I think it will help. [Complete] was much different than expected as well. In the beginning there was nothing mystical or special about it. All [Complete] does is tracks and informs me how much farther I have to go for something I am aware of to be complete."
Johnson hedged a little, but ended up summing up his ability. After finishing he looked at James with one eyebrow raised as if he was waiting for something.
"Ha, don't look at me like that master. The way you describe it your ability sounds really weak, but if I have learned anything from my ability, I bet yours is much more powerful than it sounds. Am I right?"
Hoping that he passed if this was a test James just said what he was thinking about his own ability.
Johnson burst out laughing,
"Ah, kid, you are much more intelligent than I thought. You are right. It is much more powerful then it sounds. For example, I know when someone is only telling me part of the truth. But others have the [Truth Teller] ability. [Complete] is much more than that, you see this world has a hidden layer that only a few can truly see."
Letting this sink in James stared at his master wondering if he really was crazy.
"Now, just to be clear. I can't see it either. But that doesn't mean that I can't intuit something using my ability. For example cultivation, many have the ability to cultivate, but for me I know how far away I am from completing my cultivation. I can tell if a cultivation scripture is complete and when I have found complete scriptures I can speed up my cultivation by tracking what works to increase my percentage and what doesn't."
At the end of Johnson's explanation James could only sit stunned.
"Right, I am glad you can understand what [Complete] means."
James couldn't even begin to understand,
"Wait, what? Cultivation is real?"
In James' culture cultivation was looked down upon as quackery at worst and pseudo science at best.
"Yes, cultivation is real. There are many false scriptures and false promises, though so the modern world is justified in throwing out the baby with the bath water. Especially if some of the real cultivation results in deviations and outright corruption of the human mind."
Now his master withdrew the carrot and showed the bad part of cultivation scriptures.
"I understand."
Chastised, James calmed himself.
"Don't worry, apprentice. Your interest in identification is also benefitted by my [Complete] ability. Through [Complete] I found a back door into identification. Through it I can identify everything in this world. Of course after all these years I have never once been able to identify the entirety of an object. But you better believe that I know with absolute assurance whether something is an apple or an orange."
After finishing his last sentence Johnson laughed at his own joke.
"So if you have never achieved complete understanding of a single object, then what good is it? Sorry master, I don't understand, obviously!"
James laughed at himself and his master chuckled along with him.
"That is okay, obviously I have gotten used to being content with not being complete with everything. That said and here is where [Complete] really shines. Systems can be complete. Groups of ideas can combine together to to create a system. So knowledge..."
Refusing to finish the sentence Johnson left that last word hanging as James' brain started going off thinking wild ideas.
"Are you Omniscient?"
James asked like a noob.
"Ha! No, nothing like that. While systems can be complete, knowledge itself is infinite. There can be systems within systems and systems which have absolutely nothing in common. And the greater the system the more mana and mental power is needed to even begin to comprehend them. And by the time I truly understood what my ability was capable of I had already become a body cultivator."
Sadness and loss overwhelmed his master for a few moments.
James wanting to cheer up Johnson dodged the body cultivation issue.
"But wait, if your ability is so powerful, what are you doing on this island all alone? Couldn't you be off adventuring or be the leader of some country or something?"
Jams had to ask, this question. It was glaring.
"Well, who said how old I am? Who said what I have done or who I have been. And who said I was alone? Well, I wasn't alone up until about three months ago."
Mysteriously his master intimated a few things.
"Oh, I am sorry. That person you mentioned. They could not have been an apprentice, you said you haven't had an apprentice in ten years, right? So was it someone important to you?"
Carefully, James tried to talk around the subject of who the person was who had lived with his master.
A tear formed in Johnson's eye and rolled down his cheek. It was easy for James to see, but his master didn't show any emotion.
"Yes, she was very important to me and my partner for many years. She died a peaceful death and amid her family and friends. There is only happiness that can be shared when someone like her dies in the way she died. I will speak no more of this."
Johnson took a few minutes to collect himself while James stayed quiet.
"Now let's talk about your [Fertility] ability."
"Wait, one more question. But, it won't be able her! How do I say this? If you know all these cultivation methods then why are you such a angry old man? Where is all your peace and serenity from body cultivation?"
This question had to be asked.
"Ha, that is an easy question. Immortality is a misnomer. Through cultivation you can preserve your spiritual, physical, and mental capabilities well into advanced age. And let me tell you I have advanced my age. But my life span isn't anything truly freakish."
Johnson whispered as if he was telling some kind of secret that would get him in trouble.
"True cultivation doesn't give people serenity or peace unless that person already had those qualities and characteristics. Besides is serenity or peace complete? No, to have true serenity an individual must also have all the other emotions. Even the worst ones. Do you understand?"
"No, I don't understand that. Being complete must be like being perfect!"
Excitement and wonder attached to James' concept of being complete showed up in his voice.
"Listen, apprentice. This is just a bit of hard won advise after a long lifetime of discovery. You can draw a circle in the dirt and as long as you connect the beginning to the end your circle will be complete. Does that mean you can't draw a bigger circle or make a sphere one day? Pursuing completeness is the effort of a lifetime. That work will never be over no matter how many small completions there are in the meantime. Have patience and enjoy the small moments that is the true way to be complete. Don't get it confused with perfection."
A solemn air arose between the master and his apprentice as the master finished speaking it felt like the whole universe was flooding through the space between them. Roaring sounded in James' ears so loud that it filled up his mind and everything quieted down in that face of that roar.
"Yes, master."
It was all he could say, in fact he didn't know if he said it. Nothing else mattered but the sound of the universe.
And then Johnson spoke again and it became obvious that Johnson was the one who was causing the universe's background roar to become part of James' awareness in the moment.
"See, it helps to know a few cultivation scriptures. Just remember that fun is also a part of your journey. A necessary part that only you can add. It will make you human, even if it makes you sound like a cranky old man sometimes!"
Again Johnson laughed at his own jokes.
"Okay, okay!"
The sound of the universe was becoming too much for James and he desperately called out.
With a nod Johnson did something invisible and the universe roar was suddenly gone.
"Next time you hear that, it will be because you did the work to be able to hear it. I won't subject that to you again, apprentice. Work hard so that you may be worthy of it."
"Yes, master!"
James affirmed his master's choice and then bowed.
"No, no, none of that. I am just a cranky old man, remember? Now, let's talk about [Fertility]"
His master forbid him from being too respectful and changed the subject.
"Sure, ... , I don't know where to begin?"
"Well, fortunately I have studied fertility before. Usually, the texts talk of fertility as this thing that drives men to procreate with women and women to want to have babies. But a long time ago I read a book about how fertility is more than just having babies. Successfully raising a baby to its maturity and ensuring that it has resources to reproduce ensures that the next generation can be fertile as well."
The master began a topic.
"I don't understand."
Johnson grunted.
"Speaking from the point of view of completion. Ensuring a happy and meaningful life is also a measure of fertility."
His master was trying to get James to see the complete picture of fertility.
"There are many things that contribute to fertility. It is not just how many babies are born. Looking at fertility at a population level becomes much more complicated. Did you know there is something called replacement? When fertility falls below replacement a population is in decline. When fertility is above replacement a population grows. Basically there have to be more births than deaths. What if your [Fertility] ability is more focused on raising happy healthy children and not so much on just having a child."
James started to nod at his teachers words.
"It is hard for me to think about fertility different from how I grew up learning about it, but that does make sense. That is why all the children of any pet I tame becomes my pet as well, so that all progeny can have a happy healthy life. And maybe that is why I can tame a mate for one of my pets, even if they are adults."
"Yes, I think your [Fertility] ability is like mine. It has so many repercussions that in the end it becomes much more powerful then an individual might think initially."
Johnson confirmed his apprentices thoughts.
"I have to think about this a little bit more. Thank you for instructing me, master."
Suddenly a wave of tiredness flowed over James.
"Good, sleep on the couch again tonight. I forgot to teach you how to make the light pills."
Tonight, after everything that had happened Johnson started to act a bit more like a master than before.