Shambala smiled at them, seeing the shock on their faces as they sat there watching him.One would guess the thoughts running through their minds.Thoughts like, What manner of man is he? Where are such skills and strengths from? How can one person without an artifact humiliate us?Or some thoughts could be that he must show me that ancient body-weakening technique; how did he hold Justin's arrows and even control them? Where did his courage come from? He even attacked Vladimir during the Spirit of Mjolnir possession process. Well, it was worth it, as we would have lost Vladimir to an unknown spirit. Looking at the team.“Killing you lads was not my aim, as that would have been an easy thing to do,” Shambala said.“Gosh, you did not have to put it that way, you know. Gives me the creeps,” Grover retorted.“At least you will no longer judge a book by its cover,” Shambala said to Grover."Yeah, yeah, I get the message now,” Grover grunted.“I hope you do for your sake; a lot of crypts

“I know it is hard to wield two artifacts, but it is not an impossible task, lads,” Shambala said.“Sensei, have you done this before, and how certain are you about it?” Vladimir was skeptical about using two artifacts after being told what happened with one the last time he used it.“No, I have not tried it before, but I have shown those who cared to learn the art, and they are still normal up to this very day. One person is Stark, Krystal's father,” Shambala replied.This response got the team even more scared, as they were now skeptical about taking such a risk, but Shambala assured them that what they only needed was a strong will to be able to wield two artifacts, and that was it.“Are the rumors about the after-effects true?” Riley asked.“What after-effect is she talking about?” Justin, who almost peed in his pants, asked“Is there no other way we can do this without having to wield two artifacts, Sensei?” Grover asked, expressing how faded up he is about this ‘two artifact thi

[A Week Later]The nominated members were all packed and ready to go.“Are you guys sure Mr. Shambala is still coming back?” Riley asked, seeming unsettled because it was getting longer now."Relax, I am sure he is close.” Vladimir, who has been close to her during Shambala, comforts her with those words.“Do you think he got attacked, captured, or eaten by a beast?” Grover asked with a grin."Grover, man, we do not need that negativity right now, okay?” Krystal said.“Come on, lads, have you guys already forgotten who whooped your asses some weeks ago? Do you guys think any of those things I mentioned can befall him?” Grover asked again after making his point."Well, you have a point there, but what about starving and becoming weak when those things happened? Remember, we do not know if he went with food or water. Even money,” Justin replied.“My thoughts are that if he could do all of those for us, he could source food and, if needed, hunt. We do not know if his journey took him thr

The meeting on the target stuff sparked up a lot of questions, but Shambala said he would not entertain any more questions about changing the time on the ruler.“I am not taking any more questions, lads. Like I said and will repeat, you lads know it is important for your training. Your bodies are too weak for what is ahead of you; you gas out easily during fights. So I have to get your bodies very strong by whatever means necessary,” Shambala stated.“Here is a dagger for your defense as you go through the forest,” Shambala added.“What for? We do not need it, Sensei. We have our artifacts,” Grover retorted.“About that, give it to me,” Shambala instructed them, pointing to a bag before them and prompting them to drop their artifacts into it.“Is he serious right now?” Vladimir asked, looking at Krystal.“Just do it, guys; I am sure we will be fine,” Krystal replied.“The animals in the forest are not that dangerous; some will even run at just seeing you guys approach them,” Shambala

As the team waited for the supposed boar to be seen, it attacked.The grunt got louder.“Must be a big boar; more meat to round,” Grover said, spinning his dagger.At this point, the team's mind was on getting the boar, and they forgot that they were not as mobile as they should be to attack any animal. The thought of food clouded their minds from the heavy rulers behind them.A pig-like beast came out at them.“What!?” Grover screamed, as he was too shocked. He had never seen such a beast before.The rest were not so shocked because they had seen the Pigaus before.“That is a damn Pigaus,” Krystal said.“It should be a workover,” Grover added.“But this ruler's will be a problem,” Krystal said.The Pigaus dashing close to them attacked the closest, Krystal, hitting him to the ground."Guys, get this shit off me!” Krystal shouted as he was struggling to keep the beast from snatching his head off.The beast had slapped his dagger out of his hand and reached as he stretched to get it b