Location: Lil. Red Storm, Seed World, Devil Merchant Code, Inter-Realm City, Sector WS9909, Infinity Library, Study Room
Listening to his primordial spirit announce its name as 'Martial Mad, Wyatt shook his head, realizing that his spirit was even worse at naming than he was. "No! That's not how names work. That's what I'll call you as an inside joke between us. Choose something normal. We've learned so many languages by now-can't you think of something you'd like to call yourself? A word that describes you."
"Okay, I think I get it now. Let me think..." Martial Mad's words trailed off as he searched through his memories, as well as the collective memories of his brothers, for a word that best described him. Finally, he spoke. "I found one: Michael. What do you think?"
"It's way better than Martial Mad," Wyatt replied. Before his primordial spirit could change its mind, Wyatt declared, "From now on, you are Michael Wyatt the Martial Mad"
"Martial Mad Michael Wyatt... I like the sound of that," Michael Wyatt said with satisfaction. Simply gaining a name had accelerated the development of his individuality by several times, and though he was an iteration of Wyatt, he now truly fit the template of an individual.
"Can I ask why Michael?" Wyatt inquired, curious to understand what had prompted his primordial spirit to choose that name out of the vast vocabulary available to him. "Can I keep this one to myself?" Michael's cheeks flushed red as he shyly asked. Finding it endearing, Wyatt nodded. "Sure."
"Thank you," Michael replied gratefully. In truth, he recalled the meaning of the name Michael on Earth: "Who is like God?" or "Who is equal to God?" He did not believe he was like or equal to a god, but rather that Wyatt was his god, and he was like and equal to Wyatt.
"All right, now let's get back to training. By 'us, I mean you and this one here," Wyatt said, summoning another free primordial spirit. Handing Michael an unequipped training card, a diamond-grade grimoire and the primordial spirit, Wyatt added, "Continue the training session with this one. Help it make up for the sessions it missed. As for me, I'm not done experimenting."
Before Michael could protest, Wyatt turned to the other primordial spirit and instructed, "Listen to Michael and participate in combat training alongside him. Got
"Yes, Master!" the primordial spirit shouted enthusiastically, its eyes brimming with reverence. It had been inspired, seeing Wyatt call another primordial spirit by name and treat him as an equal. It admired Michael for achieving something they all yearned for: individuality and recognition. More importantly, it realized Wyatt was willing to treat them equally. It could hardly wait to ask Michael how he had accomplished this feat when they were alone.
"Michael, I'm trusting this one to you," Wyatt said, before heading to the other side of the study room, activating a space-isolating array to separate Michael and the other primordial spirit from rest of them as it was important for his next experiment. Wyatt knew it was a heavy responsibility for Michael to care for another primordial spirit while focusing on combat training. However, he believed Michael had the potential to rise to the occasion-and he was certain Michael would surprise him. Inside the isolated training ground, ensuring Wyatt was gone, the primordial spirit bombarded Michael with questions: "How did you get Master to acknowledge you? How did you get your name? How close are you with Master? Master seemed to treat you like his son. Does that mean you two are really close? You're the first among us to be acknowledged by Master as his son, which makes you our crown prince"
"Son? I'm not sure we're there yet. I guess you could think of me as his first messenger -or herald, if you will. Nothing more," Michael replied, a glint of enthusiasm in his eyes. He enjoyed hearing the other primordial spirit suggest that Wyatt treated him like a son, but he knew better. To Wyatt, they were extensions of himself, like heralds carrying out his will.
"Enough discussion. Let's start training. If you manage to keep up, I'll answer all your questions one by one. And who knows-if you can surpass me in training, you might not only gain my acknowledgment but Master's as well. He seems to place great importance on the Martial Path, maybe because he finds it too tedious to master himself. That's where we come in. Got it?"
"Alright! I'll give it my best, Prince!"
On the other side of the training room, Wyatt had summoned another free primordial spirit. The he used the study room's array to plac them under probation to limit them to their mortal bodies. He recreated an environment identical to the one where he and Michael had first started their combat training. Wyatt even went as far as to display the same subpar performance he had shown back then. He was conducting a simulation-everything apart from the primordial spirit would mimic the original training session to see if this primordial spirit would develop like Michael and gain a enlightenment in Martial Path like him.
However, to his surprise, the experiment deviated from the script during their first. break after a long run. It was when the Card Intent ordered them to stop, previously Michael had collapsed to the ground, resting, only to crawl forward to outpace Wyatt seeing him run ahead of him take rest. That had prompted Wyatt to leap on Michael's back, yelling, "Stop! I won! Accept it! Stop, you fucker, stop!" That was the defining moment of their rivalry, it had solidified in that moment.
In contrast, this new primordial spirit didn't collapse to the ground. Instead, it halted and gracefully sat down. When it saw Wyatt run ahead and stop to rest, it scoffed and ignored him entirely. It freaking ignored him.
Frustrated, Wyatt kicked it, just as he had with Michael back then. But instead of glaring at him like Michael had, this spirit continued to ignore him.
For the sake of the experiment, Wyatt suppressed his anger and continued the simulation. In the next part of the training, he exaggerated his movements and exploded his lower half, mimicking the clumsy effort of trying to think of a way to run faster as he had shown back then. However, to Wyatt's surprise, the primordial spirit didn't pity him like Michael had seeing him constantly exploded his lower half of the spiritual body. Instead, it recognized what Wyatt was trying to do. In the next instant, it corrected its posture and perfectly paced its steps, running even faster. It didn't taunt Wyatt or acknowledge him for pointing it out-it simply continued training, ignoring him entirely.
Infuriated, Wyatt accelerated the pace of the simulation, using the footwork Michael had developed after his enlightenment. He taunted the spirit every time he passed it, mocking it and feigning pity. Yet, to his astonishment, the spirit continued to ignore him, maintaining its own pace and taking its time-until, finally, it replicated Michael's footwork. It actually mastered Michael's footwork, despite being bound by the constraints of a mortal body.
Wyatt had once considered trying that same footwork during his initial training but ultimately gave up, thinking it was a waste of time and pointless. Yet, this primordial spirit did it-and took its sweet time doing so. They had been running for a day and a half continuously, whereas Wyatt and Michael's first training session had ended after just one and a quarter days. Forget achieving enlightenment like Michael; this spirit had completely thrown Wyatt's simulation off course with its defiant, indifferent
Frustrated, Wyatt stopped the training and lifted the restrictions on their abilities and the realm. Delving into its memories, he discovered that, like Michael, it wanted to prove itself to him-but it was simply too proud to show it. Wyatt couldn't help but wonder: 'How could a slave primordial spirit be so proud? What amazed him even more was that it had the talent and capability to match and justify its pride unlike Michael.