Dry arrived at the castle kitchen and there he found Lara, one of the servants.
— Good morning, Lara! Your beauty remains mesmerizing as always!! — said Dry as he entered the kitchen, staring at Lara's breasts without even trying to hide it.
— Good morning, prince. I've already told you I don't like it when you look at me with those depraved eyes. You should be more like young master Black: polite and kind… — Lara replied, crossing her arms.
— Good morning, Lara! How can the prince be like Black? He's so dull and serious. At his age, children should be free and wild! — said Jade, who was right behind Dry, accompanied by her brother.
— Hey, brats! I've already told you that in my kitchen there's no such thing as that kind of familiarity! — complained Dry, turning to look at the two twins.
Jade, at three years old, had the air of someone cultured, yet wild at the same time — a strange combination for such a small girl.
Right beside her was Black, her twin brother. His face was cold, without any visible emotion.
— I've already prepared your breakfast. Be quick, for the others are already waiting for you in the courtyard — said Lara to the three.
— Young lady Jade, your milk is just the way you like it: cold and spicy — added Lara.
— Thanks, Lara! That's why I love you! — replied Jade, running to the side of the kitchen near the counter where the stove was.
For a long time, Dry had noticed that some things were just like Earth of the past, but others were different. One example was the stove, which here consisted of a smooth stone that, when injected with a little cosmic energy, would heat up.
— ¬_¬ Lara, you work for me, not for them!!! — grumbled Dry, heading for the table full of food.
— Your food is always the best — said Black, also moving toward the table, followed by the others.
As soon as they finished eating, they went to the courtyard, where Feng awaited them, accompanied by 17 clan children. They all belonged to the same AHIA generation.
The children were already seated in their proper places. In the front, three desks remained empty — reserved especially for Dry, Jade, and Black.
— I'm glad to see that our princes and our princess decided to grace us with their presence — said Feng, smiling at the three.
At that moment, all the children turned to the door and saw the three walking slowly to their seats.
Black kept his cold expression. Jade smiled, making hand signs to everyone, as if greeting friends. Dry, however, walked on without caring about the looks and asked Feng:
— Good morning, uncle Feng. Can you tell me who had the idea of starting classes so early in the morning?! — his face showed a hint of irritation.
— It was your mother. If you have problems, just go complain to her! — replied Feng, looking at Dry as if waiting for a show.
— ¬_¬ It's an excellent idea. Morning is the best time for learning… — said Dry, forcing a face of someone overly happy about studying.
— That's what I thought… Take your seats and pay attention to the lesson — said Feng with a smile on his face.
The three sat down: Jade in the middle, Dry on the left, and Black on the opposite side.
— You are the new AHIA generation. You are special and different from the old ones.
Some of you may wonder: why special? And why different?
Well, you are special because, for the first time in AHIA history, individuals were born with a level higher than 3 — said Feng, pausing so they could absorb the information.
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately looked at Dry, Jade, and Black.
— You are different because, being this a special generation, the elders decided to present the AHIA Clan to the world. You will be our representatives. From now on, I will teach you the basics so that you become worthy of the AHIA Name, for the name you bear carries much more weight than any individual or talent.
Your talent doesn't matter, nor your evolution. What matters is whether or not you are worthy of the AHIA Name! — declared Feng, staring at everyone in the room.
When they heard this, all the students — except for Dry — had a shine in their eyes, with expectations and determination written on their faces.
— I'm sure you are eager to learn about evolution. I was too, in my time… But the clan rules say that before learning about evolution, one must first learn the history of the AHIA: who we are and where we came from! — said Feng, pausing for a long moment to drink some water while looking at the students with appreciation.
— The history of the AHIA goes back to the primitive era, about 700,000 years ago… An age when humans in Orion didn't even know what cultivation was.
At that time, humans lived in tribes, small groups of 10 to 15 people. Our tribe was just one among many scattered across the continent we now call Arfon. We had to flee from evolutionary beasts, from other tribes… But most dangerous of all back then was time itself. — When he reached this point, Feng paused, giving the children time to absorb the story.
— Time was cruel and relentless. One could flee from beasts and from other tribes, but from time there was no escape. During a cold and icy age, half of the tribe perished. Of the fifteen we were, only seven remained.
Among the survivors was a ten-year-old boy who got lost from the tribe in the midst of a snowstorm.
In his search for the group, frightened and scared, he ended up finding a valley.
The place seemed separate from the world: outside, snow and cold; inside the valley, warmth and running water, as if snow had never touched that territory.
Exhausted, the boy fell asleep in the valley. Upon waking the next day, he explored the region to see if there were other tribes or beasts. Finding nothing, he decided to look for his tribe to show them the refuge.
But when he tried to leave, he couldn't find the way back. He searched for days without stopping. Hungry and exhausted, he fainted. — Feng paused again. The children were anxious and curious, but they didn't ask anything, knowing the story wasn't over yet.
— He then dreamed. In the dream, a tree appeared and said to him: "Do not leave me alone. Stay. I will give you food, drink, everything you desire."
The boy soon realized that the tree was the reason he couldn't leave the valley.
— I cannot stay. My tribe is lost. But you can be part of it, so you will not be alone. In my tribe, everyone contributes and protects one another. If you let me go, I will bring my tribe, and you will never be alone again — the boy replied to the tree.
The tree accepted, but fearing he wouldn't return, offered him its only fruit, on the condition that it be shared among the whole tribe.
The boy agreed. When he woke up, he found himself before his tribe, who had also been searching for him. He told the chief about the valley. The leader, though suspicious, agreed to be guided there, since the situation was desperate.
They didn't walk far before seeing the entrance. Upon entering, they rejoiced, for they had escaped the cold.
In gratitude, the chief divided the fruit among all the members. The moment they ate it, they felt the world in a different way: as if they could control everything around them, within a radius that varied from person to person — some one meter, others two, and so on.
The boy, however, had the greatest reach: 200 meters, enough to encompass the entire valley.
The tree was considered the divinity of the tribe and later called the AHIA God. The tribe received the same name, and the boy became the first AHIA Patriarch. — Feng concluded with emphasis and a dramatic pause.
"If I were the boy, I would have eaten the fruit alone and never returned to the valley again…" — thought Dry, paying attention to every detail of the story.