I did as she said, and came prepared. Making a copy of the Wattanists' outfit was simple enough, and I always had my notes on me. She was already awake and waiting for me when I arrived, which made me mildly concerned because I was practically there at the crack of dawn. Of course, I decided not to question her and followed her instead.
"Concordia is a beautiful land, with many creatures, plants, and people who've made it their home. Us Wattanists are in charge of caring for the Uni-Tree and, in a sense, the entire land."
I wrote everything she said with high interest. I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss a single important note. She took me and her teachings to a small corner of Concordia.
"There are mighty beasts living here. They have great power, and responsibility."
She continued down a path as I rustled through my bag to find a camera. I hurried to catch up with her. She smiled when I came over.
"I see you're interested, however this is one of the things we keep a secret." She gently took the camera from me. "But I'm glad to see you've fully invested yourself into this. Continue with your mind open, and not your camera."
I messed up on my first day, how great for me. Thankfully she didn't seem to get upset easily, and as long as I avoided another "slip-up," I should be fine.
The path led to a little clearing, where a small grove of flowers sat. She handed the camera back, and I shoved it back into my bag, unable to take my eyes off the beauty this place held. She spoke to me, but I could not listen. A strong feeling came from the grass, and it was the same one I'd felt when I held that watering can.
"Zokket? Are you listening?"
I was pulled back to my senses and nodded quickly before I could fully process the question she'd asked.
"Good, because this is very important."
Drat, drat, drat.
She chuckled. "You're still so young, it seems."
What was she talking about?
"I was just talking about the scenery, to see if you were paying attention. The panic on your face showed otherwise. It seems like that's a skill we need to help you develop, hm?"
That wasn't funny, but I understood what she was telling me.
"I understand you being so distracted however, this place is very strongly connected to the Uni-Tree. This place radiates Connectar from the grass, air, and plants. You can feel it, can't you?"
I nodded, writing that down as quickly as I could.
"Now, there's someone here you had no information on. If you hope to be a Wattanist, you need to know about the Conductors. They're an important part of the Concordian ecosystem. Great Conductor, he's ready to see you now."
The Great Conductor emerged from the trees. He looked like a large, winged pig, with the outlet on his face acting as eyes. A large green cord was wrapped snugly around the center of his body. He looked important.
"I had to wake up extremely early this morning to convince him to speak to you. He's not one for guests, usually. However, he caved immediately when I mentioned you were training under me."
"Oh, shut it," he said. His voice was powerful, but not commanding.
"Zokket, the Conductors help control the Connectar's connections."
"That's right!" He said proudly. "I can control where it goes better than the Uni-Tree! You see that dead-looking plant there?"
I looked around, then to my feet. I'd accidentally stepped on one of the flowers. "Yes." I stepped off it, making sure to not trample another.
"Watch this!"
The flower popped back up, unharmed. I wrote that down as the Great Conductor gave me a strange look.
"So you can prevent plants' death?"
"No, I can just help it a bit. You can't prevent death, kid. And stop taking notes. You can't learn if you keep doing other stuff."
The Great Conductor was stern, to say the least, but he was interesting. He'd been around since the dawn of Concordia, and took care of smaller Conductors. The youngest was named Snoutlet, although he wasn't allowed free roam yet for being so young. I had the chance to meet other Conductors however, and they were all pretty nice. Cozette told me about the importance of them, in more detail, and said to return to the Uni-Tree in a few days. She mentioned getting a second apprentice and explained she needed to be taught separately.
Despite meeting Disc in a...strange way, I was thankful I met him. He lived close to the Uni-Tree and told me I could come by whenever I wanted. He told me he'd always have a guest room open for me. So after Cozette's lesson, I returned to his home.
"Hey, Zokster! Nice to see you again!"
"Is that offer still open? To stay here?"
He nodded excitedly. "You and me against the world, man! Come on in, I'm making dinner."