Jacob woke up from his deep slumber to the sll of food. His body reacted before his mind could register where he was and reached out in the direction of the scent. He started shoveling mounds of food down his throat and followed it down with so water. When he finally got a hold of himself, he slowly looked around.
’Man. I can never rember how I always end up back in my room. I guess I’m coordinated even when I’m not conscious!’
Today was the day before he and Maria were supposed to spar to show off how much stronger each of them had beco. He decided that today he would focus on refining his legs even further. He sat up and jumped out of his bed, but when he tried to walk, he imdiately fell to the floor. No matter how much he strained himself, his legs wouldn’t cooperate. They were way too fatigued and needed to heal.
’Shit.’
Jacob used his arms to drag his body into the hall and call out for a servant. Joesph heard the prince’s call and imdiately ca to his aid. Staring down at the prince, he seed shocked at first but slowly grew less tense.
"Is there sothing wrong with your legs, my lord?"
"Unfortunately, I think I overdid it a bit. My legs won’t listen to !"
Joseph sighed.
"I didn’t want to have to tell you this, but I believe it would be in your best interest to rest today. Try to stay off your feet as much as possible for the ti being."
Jacob looked a little hurt at first and tried to argue.
"But this is the last day before sothing really important. I need to be at my best if I want to perform well."
"If you want to be at your best, more training is the last thing you need. Resting is just as important as training when it cos to striving for strength. If your body can’t recover from the intense training you do, it gives your muscles no ti to grow and harden."
Jacob was about to retort but he knew it would be useless unless he could stand himself up and show Joseph that he was perfectly fine.
’This is so humiliating.’
"Would you like to get you so crutches, my lord?"
"Yes please. Since I can’t train my body, I have so other ideas for things I can improve on."
"Oh? And what is it you are trying to improve?"
"My knowledge. Is the professor at the palace today?"
"He is in his office I believe. Stay right here and I will bring you the crutches."
Not long after he left, Joseph ca back with two long wooden sticks with arches at the top. Jacob leaned against the wall and shoved them under his armpits while trying to balance himself. After a bit of trial and error, he was able to start moving across the hall on his own.
"This is much better. Thank you for the help, Joseph."
"Anyti, my lord. Would you like to accompany you on the trip to the office?"
"No thank you. But I do need to ask a favor of you if that’s okay."
Jacob thought for a mont then gestured for him to co closer. As Joseph leaned down, Jacob whispered sothing in his ear.
"What do you need that for, my lord?"
"Just put it sowhere in my room when you grab it. It’s for a surprise."
"As you wish, my lord."
Once Joseph left, Jacob clicked himself through the palace with his wooden crutches. After a short while, he finally reached his teachers office. His professor was sitting in his chair reading sothing that looked important. Even though the door was open, Jacob knocked on it anyway to announce his arrival.
"Pardon professor, are you busy at the mont?"
The professor seed a bit shocked at Jacob’s arrival and silently put his book down.
"Prince Jacob! What a lovely surprise! Please, have a seat and co in!"
The office was a complete ss with papers scattered all over the office. There was a myriad of different books in a small bookcase in the corner of the room and half of them looked like there were pages ripped out.
"So, what brings you here today, young lord?"
"I want to know more about these powers. Is there anything new you can tell about them? How do people even gain these powers in the first place?"
The professor scratched his chin for a mont.
"Close the door for a mont."
"Why?"
"Just do it, please."
Jacob obliged and stood up from his seat to quickly shut the door.
"Thank you. These powers have been a mystery that have been plaguing this world for quite a while. Decades have passed and to this day, no one has found their origin. However, I may have an answer to your second question, about receiving these powers."
Jacob leaned forward in his seat, staying completely silent.
"It is under the impression of many people that these powers are simply randomly assigned to an individual at a random ti. However, I tend to disagree with this notion. Let ask you a question: which kinds of people most commonly receive a power?"
Jacob thought for a mont.
"Hm... Perhaps nobles, like the Rose or Katra clan?"
"Exactly. And what do all these clans have in common?"
"They all hold a certain authority?"
"Very close, but not quite. They all hold a certain influence over humanity. Based on all the record’s I’ve collected, every person who has held a power in our history has also held influence over sothing. Even if it was sothing as minimal as trading."
"I see, but what about the nobles who don’t receive powers who still hold influence over sothing?"
"That brings to my next theory. You are right that so nobles never receive a power despite being able to influence sothing. However, perhaps it doesn’t have to do with what they are influencing in the present mont."
"I don’t think I follow, professor."
"What I’m saying is, I believe that people who receive powers don’t receive them because they already hold influence over sothing. I believe it is because they are destined to hold influence over sothing. This would make sense given the record of many people. Every single noble who never received a power was booted from the clan. Not because they didn’t have a power, but because they were never strong enough to carry on the influence of their predecessors."
This theory was fascinating to Jacob. Looking at it from his perspective, it made almost too much sense.
’Wait... does that an Maria is destined to have influence over sothing? I wonder what it could be.’
"That brings to my next question professor. Doesn’t that seem too... purposeful? How do these powers know exactly who to choose?"
The professor looked at his watch for a mont.
"How much ti do you have to talk with today?"
Jacob was a little taken aback by this response.
"All day."
"Good. I think we’re going to be here for a while."
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