After speaking for a while longer about the process of core refinement and meditation, sleepiness got the better of Micro, and Feng rolled a mat out on the floor near the fireplace where he could sleep. His dreams brought him back home again, but the happiness he felt to see the old man again was not all he experienced in this dream.

  While driving down a familiar road, he realized his rubber tires had been replaced with leather. The road became rocky, and quickly tore through the weak tires, but he couldn’t stop despite the pain. The road then became dark, and when his driver turned the switch to flip the headlights on, no light came out at all. Stranded in the dark with four damaged wheels, his master climbed out of the cab to look around, only to find the fuel was leaking.

  Micro tried to talk to his driver, to tell him he was sorry. He wanted to let him know he’d be back to normal soon, after a few repairs, but the driver suddenly fell away into the darkness, farther and farther, until he was completely out of sight. As much as he tried, Micro could neither move nor scream in his anguish. A terrible feeling bubbled up from inside of him until he felt like he was about to explode.

  “No!” Micro shouted as he sat up on the floor of the cabin. He gasped for air as the anxiety of the nightmare lingered and looked around.

  “Calm down, boy!” Feng’s voice rang from outside the cabin. “I’ll have breakfast ready in a moment.”

  Micro stood up and stretched out his joints, still aching from the previous day’s adventures. He tried to shake off the nasty feeling his dreams had left him with, but he was still very much aware of the discomfort in his core.

  Feng was quick to fill up several plates with all sorts of vegetables, and even some fruits, and the two sat down for their second meal together.

  “You’re in luck,” Feng announced as he presented the food. “A green apple tree passed by this morning.”

  “That’s very lucky.” Micro tilted his head. “Passed by…?”

  “Don’t be shy.” Feng smiled, throwing several apples across the cabin to Micro. “You’re a growing young man!”

  “Growing?” Micro gasped. “I see…”

  “Don’t hold it in, young one. Your food will taste bitter if you don’t spit out what’s bothering you,” Feng said, his tone much lighter than it had been the night before. “Ask your questions before they eat you up.”

  “I was wondering…” Micro asked after finishing his salad. “Why do people need cores? I don’t think people on my world had them, so can’t I just get rid of mine if it’s so dangerous?”

  “There are no cultivators in your world at all? That’s fascinating,” He replied with a raised eyebrow. “Indeed, a core isn’t necessary for the soul to reside in a physical body. Many people certainly do live their entire lives without cultivating a core, and some are simply unable to form one at all. I spent little time among the mundane though, so I couldn’t tell you much about such a life.”

  “So why do I need it?”

  “Well, there is one reason a typical cultivator needs a core, but there are two reasons why you need one,” Feng explained slowly. “A cultivator gathers the energy of the world around him and makes it part of him, you see? Now, what do you think would happen if you forced more water into a cup than it was meant to hold?”

  “Well…” Micro didn’t have to think long before answering. “The water would spill over.”

  “That is correct.” Feng nodded approvingly. “When the cup, that is to say, our core is insufficient to contain the energies we wish to harness, we must strengthen it. This allows us access to far greater reserves of energy than a mortal body normally would.”

  “So I can’t get strong enough to go home without a core,” Micro said with a somber tone. “But what is the second reason?”

  “As I said, humans are not born with cores. However, in your case, you are an exceptionally rare case. The vessel you came to possess in this world contains a core which simply cannot contain your magnificent spirit. Imagine two cups of water suddenly appearing in a single cup. Only one thing could result…”

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  “A mess?” Micro asked.

  “A terrific mess, indeed,” Feng confirmed. “An explosive mess, at that…”

  “So even if I removed the unstable core…”

  “That’s right. Your soul is too much for a typical human’s core to contain. I’m not sure what size or shape you were before you came into this world, but you’ll need to reach a much higher stage of cultivation before you can even begin to chase your dreams across the stars.”

  “It sounds like I need a mechanic…”

  “You need a master,” Feng said sternly. “You are not the intended soul for that body. You will need to learn to make it your own.”

  “It will never be my body though,” Micro said coldly.

  “It is all you have, for now.”

  “That’s true…” Micro sighed. “So, a master will make me stronger?”

  “A master will teach you to be strong.”

  “Master?” Micro thought about the word master for a moment, then he realized. “Wait, you’re my master!”

  Feng laughed at the boy’s proclamation. Micro interpreted his jovial response as agreement, but was disappointed to see him shake his head a moment later.

  “Alas, my time as a master of young cultivators is long behind me now.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Not that I was ever much of a teacher. Last night’s exercise in energy circulation is such a basic skill for a master to practice, and yet I feel as though it drained me of all my strength. Not to mention that hungry little pixie in your pocket.”

  “Crap!” A muffled sound escaped Micro’s pocket, and a tiny pair of blue eyes peered out from behind the rusty armour. “Good eyes for a fossil!”

  “You think somebody my age wouldn’t notice a greedy little critter siphoning off all the power it could?!” Feng rebuked the pixie, clearly annoyed at her presence. “I assume this boy allows you on his person for a good reason, but you pesky little things always pop up when something worth stealing presents itself.”

  “You siphoned somebody’s fuel?!” Micro was shocked to hear such an accusation. “That’s dishonest!”

  The anxious pixie suddenly became defensive and waved her fist at Micro from her seat in his pocket.

  “Hey, you owed me a little for getting you out of that cave!” She pouted. “In fact, you owe me a lot!”

  “That’s true, but siphoning…” Micro said with a horrified expression. “Like a thief in the night…”

  “You think you can take the fun out of everything?” Blue scoffed. “And it wasn’t like he’d have offered me any if I asked.”

  “Be careful around pixies, boy…” Feng spoke as he continued to look at the little blue creature suspiciously. “They’ve robbed entire sects blind in an afternoon. Countless cultivators brought to ruin, and not even a word of—”

  “Hey, Blue would never do something like that.” Micro laughed at the scale of Feng’s claims as he struggled to imagine such a tiny creature stealing things from humans. “Blue said, oh…”

  “Well, to be fair…” Blue spoke out of the corner of her mouth. “That’s not entirely wrong. Pixies are treasure hunters by nature, you see…”

  “More like thieves and pests!” Feng grumbled in displeasure. “And they’re a fearsome pest at that. As a child I was once blamed for the theft of a dozen Core Cards from my sect after a single Pixie snuck in and dropped a hammer on my head. I still have the scar! Look!”

  Feng lifted his long grey hair off his face, revealing a small mark on his forehead where indeed a hammer had made contact. However, while he displayed his scar for Blue and Micro to see, he suddenly broke out in laughter.

  “I was nearly banished from the sect, if not for my master’s kindness…” Feng’s laughter overwhelmed him for a moment before he could sit up straight again.

  Blue slumped back into Micro’s pocket as the old man laughed and giggled. Even Micro started to laugh after a while, though he didn’t entirely understand why. Blue remained silent while eyeing the two humans with a confused glare.

  “Ah… I’m too old to be blaming a force of nature for acting according to its nature…” Feng relaxed his face and leaned back. “What’s your name, little one?”

  “…Blue.” Her reply was muffled still by the armour she hid behind.

  “I see,” Feng replied. “And how did you find yourself in the company of this otherworldly traveller? I’ve never known a pixie to take any interest in human affairs, beyond what they can fit in their pockets.”

  Blue planned to ignore the old man, but she was suddenly plucked from her pocket by Micro. He placed her gently atop the table and smiled.

  “I don’t think he’s going to do anything to you, Blue.”

  “Hmph.” She rolled her eyes, then looked over her shoulder at the old cultivator behind her, stroking his beard curiously. “Fine. I was one of the sacrifices the creepy magicians used to bring him over here. I helped him escape when they threw him on the altar next to me.”

  “What an adventure you’ve had,” Feng remarked as though he were praising a small child. “But you are free now, and yet you remain in his pocket.”

  “That was just until I could recover my strength!” She shouted. “But I’m feeling a bit better now thanks to you, so goodbye!”

  With those words, she stuck out her tongue and snapped her fingers, creating a bright flash. When the light had faded, she was nowhere to be seen. Micro looked all around the room, but she had disappeared.

  “That was strange,” Micro said. “I guess she had somewhere to be.”