Mistake, Mistake, Mistake

 Ben wanted to ask some more questions. But Mahaansh didn't allow it and he had to go back. He could not help but wait.

The next day he went to school again. ' Man even though I am exempted, I have to come here everyday. When will it stop?' Ben thought. Having said that, he couldn't help frown. 'What exactly is the mistake they talked about? Is it about ascension of ranks? No that can't be true. The ascension conditions are same for everyone, barring the difference in martial arts development associated with the different meridian seeds. That's it! Difference in meridian seeds. It must be associated with my meridian seed.' Having this feeling, he couldn't wait anymore. As he walked to the school, he could see a lot of students clamouring about. They were outside one of the training facilities. When he walked close by, he saw a black animal, ferocious looking, with blue stripes on it. It was lying down and looking at the students. Students were not approaching it. It was releasing an invisible pressure and an area of heat. But as soon as it saw Ben, the pressure disappeared. When Ben came near it, it came and licked Ben. While it did have intelligence compared to an adult, its animal like instincts of affection were still there. Seeing this the students were all amazed. There were some beast master affinity students amongst them. Even they could not communicate with it. Ben's affinity was not public knowledge. Vishok and Mahaansh were seeing this from outside.

Mahaansh: Hey, does Azurban often do this? Even I your friend gets cold treatment. If I wasn't a martial lord, I would have been eaten by him.

Vishok: I know. His species is not something that can be tamed easily. But for some reason Ben has a way with it.

Mahaansh: Is it because he is a beastmaster?

Vishok: No. I can still feel the connection between me and Azurban as strong as it is always. It is not because of that. But I can feel that whenever Ben comes near him, Azurban feels like he is near a friend, or rather someone close to him. I am not exactly sure about the feeling. But it is as if Ben is his best buddy, but I am still his master. This is all I could muster.

Mahaansh: You made me more confused.

Vishok: Can't help it. Any way I need to speak with him as soon as possible. I need to correct the blunder I made.

Ben came into the training facility under the astonished eyes of his friends and class mates. Vishok and Mahaansh were waiting for him. They sat around a table at the corner of the facility. Vishok was having some difficulty starting. He turned to Mahaansh. Mahaansh sighed and started. "So Ben, do you remember that we told you that you don't need a live animal for your shamanic beastmaster?" Ben nodded. Mahaansh continued, " Turns out, you need one for the development of your meridian seed." Ben was stunned. He had guessed the issue was about his meridian seed, but he did not think it was this serious. Now Vishok began to speak, " Look, you have every right to be mad at us. Shamanic Beast master is a very rare meridian seed. The highest ever a person who has reached is the level of a martial monarch and he was regressed to a duke because of certain accident. There are also very few data. So, we did make some mistake. You need a creature that is alive to increase your power." Hearing this Ben was stunned. He did not know what to do. Aether Lupis were an extinct species as far as he knew. Vishok said, " Don't worry. There is a way. The wonders of technology and shamanic artisans are on a different level." Vishok stopped there for a dramatic style. Mahaansh facepalmed himself. Ben was too exasperated to respond. Vishok said, " Oh come on guys, you need to have some showmanship in life." Mahaansh said " Get it over with Vishok. It is already too late." Vishok nodded and took out something from the spatial bag. It was a scroll ,on which an Aether Lupis was there. It was a picture, but it felt alive. Its majesty was there. Ben asked, "What is this?" Vishok answered, " It is a ' Intent Script'." Ben was waiting for Vishok to continue. He looked at Ben and Mahaansh and said, "You both are duds." Then he started to explain:

" There is a skill among the various disciplines to infuse the will and intent into objects. It is predominantly seen among shamanic and artisan type meridian seeds. Any way, this intent script is a one time use object, which will convey the powers and abilities along with the various skills of and Aether Lupis. It will convey all the abilities, but what abilities you resonate with is entirely up to you. In this picture there is bit of blood from the Aether Lupis, and its spinal fluid are also incorporated. The picture will convey its various basic abilities and the blood and spinal fluid will convey the genetic memories. Don't worry. I successfully used some medicines to regress that wolf into a normal gale wolf. It is much more powerful now. I will either give it to a good student or I will release it to wild." Ben was relieved. He thought it was killed.

Vishok continued, "This was done secretly by one of my friends in another country. Any way this is a one time opportunity, make the maximum out of it. You can store it now in this box. When you have proper environment with rich life energy conductive of your meridian seed, you can use it."

Now Ben was in a state of dilemma. Mahaansh said, "You need to fight your own battles boy. You need to be resourceful as well. This scroll will be at full power for about 3 months. After which its efficiency will begin to decrease. So you have to do it within this time period." Ben nodded.

After that Ben began to train with Mahaansh for some time. Then he chatted with his friends. He told them that he came to see Vishok because he is a beast master and wanted to speak with him. Then he went back home.

When he reached home, he talked with his family and came to his room . He completed his works and then began to contemplate. ' To think that such a mistake happened. Only now do I realize the gravity of the situation. Although I should be angry at them, it is not like they did it intentionally. I am indebted to them. Since teacher Mahaansh is taking me with him to the Aatva forest and also did a lot of things for me. The next problem is finding an environment conductive of my meridian seed within 3 months. I don't think I can wait till 9 weeks, when I gain some thing from the turmoil in Aatva. That is not feasible. How do I make some money. What about the spatial fragment? Can something be done in that. Forget it. I will ask teacher tomorrow. I don't think the school will allow. But why don't I try. I f it does not work, I can only slowly absorb the life energy in the forest around the house. Man it is tough. I also need to try the sunlight in noon. I need to see if there is any difference. '

Soon Ben typed up a detailed and formal letter to be sent to Mahaash regarding his plan through the school network. He just said that if there are any work to be done in the spatial fragment, he could do it. It was a long shot, but worth trying.