The question caught Jackson by surprise, especially given the whole betrayal of trust deal just a few months back. “What did you have in mind?”
Ken Sato leaned forward over his desk. “Your work herding and in the fields has been great, but I’d like to bring on another breeder in the next couple of years. You could start interning here and we’d pay for you to take all of the classes you’d need over the holo, so you wouldn’t have to leave home. There would be a small increase in pay if you accepted and a substantial raise once you became a certified Djinn breeding specialist.”
Jackson didn’t know what to say. The last thing he’d expected was a job offer and a full-ride scholarship when he came to work that morning. Then again, he hadn’t expected to have his dreams of joining training camp dashed to pieces, either.
“I…I’m sort of surprised, Mr. Sato — thank you…” Jackson picked through his next words carefully. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go home and talk things over with my grandma, if that’s okay?”
Mr. Sato waved a hand and smiled. “Of course. I don’t need an answer right away. Classes wouldn’t start until the fall, but we could begin your internship this spring. Take as much time as you need.”
“I will,” Jackson said, his head spinning.
“Good,” Mr. Sato said. He stood up and offered his hand to Jackson, who shook it. “And, if I may, I’d like to give you a little advice?”
Jackson nodded. “Of course.”
Mr. Sato placed his hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “I’ve seen a lot of tamers come and go over the past thirty years. There have been some that have become very wealthy in the leagues, but most ended up without much to show for all their hard work. On the other hand, there’s real money to be made in breeding and as much security as any career. Just food for thought.”
Jackson thanked Mr. Sato and left his office, still dazed. By the time he made it back to the break room, Kay had already returned to work. Without any immediate tasks left on his list, Jackson spoke with the ranch foreman and left Sato Breeders early. On the way home, Jackson summoned Asena from her ring. The Djinn walked alongside her tamer, offering him silent strength.
“What do you think, girl?” Jackson asked her. “Maybe we’re not as ready as we thought we were.”
Asena gave a small whine and an anxious nip on the hand. Jackson sighed. He knew his grandma would already be home — today was one of her scheduled half-days at the greenhouse. He turned from the road leading to their small apartment and headed toward Tyle’s nearby woods instead.
With no real purpose in mind, Jackson wandered on the edge of the farmlands where the scattered trees had grown bare over the past season. Asena lost her previous depression at the sight of the forest and set about at once to sniffing and digging here and there. Jackson watched her, happy to see his Djinn could set aside her worries so easily. He played over the day in his mind once more: Fiona’s announcement, her father’s offer.
Six months ago, he would have declined the job without a second thought. Now, after weeks upon weeks of grueling training with little to show for it, he felt his confidence wavering. After an hour of internal back and forth, Jackson whistled for Asena and made his way home.
Following Asena up the sidewalk that led to their apartment, Jackson closed his eyes and imagined he was still going to his mom’s old house across town in the suburbs. Their new place wasn’t bad, but to Jackson, it still didn’t feel like home. Every once in a while, he still caught himself heading down the road that led to their old house, only to turn around when the sharp pang of reality struck him.
Just as Jackson expected, Jane was already home when he opened the door. Jackson’s grandma was lounging on the sofa, no doubt recuperating from a hard day at the greenhouse — a reminder of how much harder she’d had to work since he committed to taming.
“Hey there, pal. You’re home early,” Jane said, standing up and making her way over to the kitchen. Asena ran to the woman’s side and wagged her tail until Jane produced a small bone-shaped treat. She gobbled it up right away and settled down on her rug in the corner. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Jackson said. “Just got things finished early, so I decided to call it a day.”
Jane frowned. “Since when do you call it a day early? You’d hang around even if they didn’t pay you — what’s going on?”
Slumping down on a chair at their tiny kitchen table, Jackson filled his grandma in on the day’s events. Jane listened without interrupting Jackson until he finished.
“So that’s the deal,” Jackson said, heaving another long sigh. “I’m not going to make it to the training camp this year, and Mr. Sato thinks I’m more cut out to be a breeder than a tamer. I don’t know what to do.”
“What do you want to do?” Jane asked. She’d returned to stirring the pot on the stove, but her attention remained on her grandson.
“I think I should just take the internship job,” Jackson said. “It’s really not a bad deal — I can go to school just like you wanted and still work with Djinn. In the meantime, I’ll sign up for some local tournaments and maybe get my name out there a bit more for next year’s training camp.”
Jane peered at Jackson over the rims of her glasses. “You don’t need to convince me, Jackson. Not anymore. As much as I love everything you’re telling me right now, this is your decision. But if you want some advice from me, it sounds like you’re trying to talk yourself into doing something you don’t want to do.”
His grandma’s answer left Jackson without a reply. Just over a year ago, the last thing in the world Jane Hunt wanted her grandson to do was battle Djinn. Now, it almost sounded like she was encouraging him to do just that.
“I’m just trying to be realistic,” he said.
Jane snorted. “Jackson, we both know you’re not a realistic person — you’ve got too much of your mother in you to do the boring, responsible thing.”
“Yeah…” For some reason, Jane’s words made Jackson feel even worse and more indecisive. If she was telling him not to give up on his dream, then he wondered if he was crazy to even consider taking the Sato job. At the same time, he justified using the money from the job to travel outside of Tyle where he could expand Asena’s training and find stronger opponents. He knew he would also learn tons of things about the various Djinn species that he couldn’t learn anywhere else. What difference would a year really make? As it stood, leveling up Asena was getting harder and harder, especially with the diminishing competition around Tyle. He’d really have to commit some coin to seeking out these opponents, but he had no real idea of how to go about doing it without there being some sort of organized competition. And back and forth the ordeal went in Jackson’s head.
“Jackson,” Jane said, bringing him back back to reality. “You didn’t go through everything last year just to give up after one little roadblock. You’re young. Don’t be so hard on yourself. We have the money if you want to keep working as a ranch hand and training Asena on the side. Don’t think we lost that house for nothing. But if you want to take a year and try some other things out, there’s nothing wrong with that either. The way I see it, you’ve got two great opportunities to choose between.”
Jackson smiled and actually felt a little bit better, though a part of him wondered how true it all was. She had been working a lot more than usual. “Thanks,” he said. “And thanks for all of your support. It really means a lot.”
Jane hid a smile of her own and gave her grandson a playful slap on the arm. “Oh, knock it off. You know you don’t need to butter me up. Are you done whining about how terrible your life is so you can help with dinner?”
Jackson laughed and for a few hours he let his mind stray away from the decision before him. He spent a relaxing evening with Jane and Asena, but when he got in bed, Jackson didn’t feel tired at all. Fiona’s announcement and Mr. Sato’s offer whirled around in his brain. Frustrated, Jackson turned on the holo after an hour of tossing and turning.
> As the cerulean light flickered across the foot of his bed and Asena’s sleeping form, Jackson turned down the volume so as not to wake his Djinn. Scrolling through a variety of classic matchups, he found one of his old favorites between two Gold League competitors, Lei Kaleo and Sho Rine.
Although he’d seen the battle at least a dozen times and knew most of the moves before they ever happened, Jackson couldn’t help but admire the two pros and their Djinn duking it out in the coliseum. He watched in awe as they commanded their Djinn at mind-numbing speed. He’d always appreciated watching professional Djinn battles, but after learning the basics with Asena, Jack felt even more in awe of the lightning fast strategizing and countermeasures the Gold League tamers employed.
Jackson sighed as the battle drew to an end and he turned off the holo-projection. He knew his skill was lightyears away from what he’d just watched, and in that moment, his decision had been made.
The following morning, he notified his group of high school training opponents with a short vid message that he wouldn’t be training and he headed straight to Sato Breeders as soon as it opened for work hours. Upon arriving, he made a beeline for Ken Sato’s office.
“I’d like to take you up on that breeding internship offer.”
Chapter Four
Jackson told Kay about his decision later that day. To his relief, she had nothing but congratulations to offer after asking him he if was sure that was what he wanted to do.
“Yes,” Jackson said. He felt good just saying it out loud, like he had when he’d walked into Mr. Sato’s office and told him he’d take the internship. “It’s the right call. I can take some time to work harder with Asena, and I’m sure I’ll learn lots in the meantime.”
Kay smiled. “I’m glad to hear you’re happy with the decision. I know it couldn’t have been easy, but it’s probably for the best.”
Although he started working with the breeders for a couple of hours each day, Jackson still had to keep up with his regular duties at the ranch. Two days after he’d given his decision to Mr. Sato, he was out in the fields working on another section of fence. Since the pasture was empty, Asena sat next to him, lounging in the sun while Jackson worked. An hour or so before lunch, he noticed Asena’s ears perk up out of the corner of his eye.
Jackson turned in the direction of Asena’s attention and saw Fiona crossing the field. She moved with a purposeful stride, almost as if she were power walking or something. When she got closer, Jackson saw a scowl on her face. She didn’t stop until she was right up in his face.
“What the hell?” she said.
Jackson took an involuntary step back.
“What?” Jackson said.
Fiona gave him a small shove but it caught Jackson by surprise. He almost fell over backward onto Asena.
“My dad just told me you took an internship here at the ranch and that you’re going to take classes for breeder school this summer,” Fiona said. “How the hell are you supposed to be a tamer when you’re in school, huh?”
“I’ll keep doing it on the side like I am now,” Jackson said. “I didn’t get an invite anyway, so I might as well do something for the next year.”
Fiona rolled her eyes. “Is that what you keep telling yourself? Jackson, you know as well as I do that taking an internship in the breeder program isn’t just something to do to pass the time. I can’t believe you’re giving up on being a tamer!”
“Giving up? What?”
Fiona clenched her fists at her side and Jackson took another step back. Even Asena hunkered down on the ground in the presence of Fiona’s glowering anger.
“I just thought you wanted to be a tamer more than that,” she said. “But I guess I was wrong — you’re settling.”
Jackson felt his anger stirring again. “That’s easy for you to say when you’re heading off to Training Camp in another month!”
“So?” Fiona said. “There’s no guarantee I’ll make it on the roster. There are hundreds of people every year who get cut from Training Camp from this region alone, but they keep showing back up. I might get cut at camp and I’ll essentially be in the same boat as you. What’s the difference between that and not getting an invitation?”
“I —” To his irritation, Jackson didn’t have an answer.
“Tell me, when exactly do you think you’re going to have time to train when you’re working all day and taking holo-classes at night?” Fiona said.
Jackson didn’t have an answer for that either.
“And as far as the Training Camp goes, you should know —”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”
“No, I don’t think you do. If —”
“Sorry, but can I just think for a bit?”
“But, you have to —”
“Seriously, Fiona,” Jackson said, not wanting to discuss the Training Camp any further.
That seemed to make Fiona even madder for some reason. “Are you kidding me? You’re exhausting, you know that?” Venting a frustrated sigh, she spun around and stalked away, even more furious than when she came.
Jackson looked down at Asena. “Think she’s right?”
Asena growled. Pushing Fiona’s words from his mind, Jackson turned back to his task at hand. Several minutes later, he turned around to reach for a tool and found Asena missing. He was just about to whistle for her when he saw his Djinn running across the field, back and forth.
It was a conditioning drill they did at the end of every training session. Asena despised it with a passion, and some days Jackson thought she might bite him when he said it was time to start running. Jackson watched his Lyote streak back and forth through the grass of her own accord, and could almost feel the cracks in the confidence of his decision spreading.
When Jackson got home, his grandma was still at work. He’d planned to have a relaxing evening on their small patio out back — the rear of the apartments had a small lawn and fountain that the other tenants rarely used — but as soon as he sat down, Jackson felt a restlessness gnawing at him. When he looked at Asena, the Djinn was perched on her back legs, head cocked to the side as if waiting for a command. She’d ran for almost half an hour and only stopped when Jackson called her back, her mouth open and breath ragged.
Jackson tapped the armrest of his chair for a long minute and then abruptly stood up. “All right,” he told Asena. “Since neither of us wants to chill, we might as well go get some training in.”
Even if the competition wasn’t as fierce as he might have wanted, Jackson had no problem finding a couple of kids willing to test their Djinn with his. The experience gains Asena would earn would be minimal, but the younger tamers’s Djinn would still benefit if they lost, so long as they didn’t fight to zero. And since Fiona wouldn’t train with anyone, Jackson was somewhat of a minor idol to the students around Tyle, even though he’d been one of them two short years before.
Asena faced off against a Magglecaw and a Felinx and won the match handily. When both young tamers withdrew their Djinn, Jackson felt a flush of pride from the victory, even though it was only a training battle against two opponents far below Asena’s level. A renewed love for Asena and the competition flooded through him.
“Trace, you need to work on teaching basic commands to your Djinn,” Jackson told one of his opponents. “Your Djinn clearly didn’t know what you meant by Mocking Wind and was basically doing things until he thought he pleased you. Spend more time with basic training so he knows what you’re talking about. It’ll also make things easier as your Bond grows strong enough to communicate non-verbally.”
The words triggered a memory of Cassius Briggs, Jackson’s old mentor. In preparing for various fights in the Underground, he’d spent countless hours learning and growing under the old man’s gritty but priceless tutelage. Hearing similar words repeated from his own mouth gave Jackson a strange feeling.
“And Lily,” Jackson said, a sudden thought springing to his mind. “In this battle, you were facing off against a Fire-Elemental
and Earth-Elemental combo, yet you kept relying on Earth-Elemental attacks. Those are only half as effective against Asena — not even taking her higher level into consideration. When outmatched in terms of Element, rely more on Plain-Elemental attacks, as they are equally effective against the other four main Elements.”
“Thanks, Jack!” Lily said, beaming.
Jackson shrugged. “Sure — and I’m sorry Kay couldn’t make it tonight to heal your Djinn.”
Both students told Jackson it wasn’t a big deal and said their goodbyes. Jackson remained in the field for a bit, idly scratching Asena’s head. In the months of constant grinding, he realized he’d forgotten how much he loved taming. Fiona’s news about making it to training camp had only furthered his frustration and despair, but over the past few days, that flicker of competitiveness in him had refused to die. Tonight, he could feel it burning brighter again.
“I can’t take that internship,” Jackson said out loud. Asena’s ears perked up and she looked at him, head tilted. Once more, Jackson felt surprised at the words coming out of his mouth. But he knew they were right.
“I can’t take that internship,” Jackson said again. He felt a rush of confirmation and a resurgence of motivation. He didn’t care how long he had to work as a ranch hand until he got an invite to Training Camp. He wasn’t going to give up now. He hadn’t quit when he’d been beaten in the Underground fights and he hadn’t quit when he’d lost to Fiona, no matter how bad it hurt or how much it cost his family.
Before he lost his nerve, Jackson tapped a few buttons on his holo-watch that called Sato Breeders.
“Jackson? Everything okay?”
The upper half of Mr. Sato’s body appeared in the holo. Although it was close to sunset, Jackson could see he was still working away in his office at the ranch headquarters. Jackson swallowed hard, heart pounding.
Djinn Tamer - The Complete Bronze League Trilogy Page 27