Day 7 of the Nhatz Calendar

  ‘Dear Dei,

  The farm is very quiet without you but we are happy to know you are advancing as a cultivator. The sect reminded us that they only accept letters once a week so we shall have a letter waiting for you every week.

  The fields are healthy and your father says this is a good sign that you too are healthy.

  Please be safe and remember you always have a home here.

  -Mother.’

  The post office was swamped by homesick students and you didn’t fancy your chances of getting to the front within an hour. The clerk did say they didn’t close until late so you decided to wait until it was quieter to send your own letter back.

  You vanished to attend Kie’s class and found that the class was now nearly half full of white robed students.

  Pola waved you over near the front as Instructor Kie wrote down a single word on her board.

  ‘Progression’.

  “By now, some of you may have hit what we call a ‘bottleneck’. The term is used loosely in regards to many roadblocks on the road to cultivating,” she said with a firm tone as she eyed the room.

  “You may hit a bottleneck when you no longer have cultivation techniques to aid your body, sea, or dantian. Perhaps your chosen class needs a higher progression but you simply can’t see a way to reach it at your current rank,” she listed and a few students nodded.

  You could see the issue yourself. You only had the taming scroll and the dantian bloom technique to study and if the classes continued to provide techniques for your main areas rank 1 or below then your own growth would significantly drop.

  “So, let's discuss the best methods to breach these limits. The first thing you must be using is each other. You are brothers and sisters in the sect, unity can allow you to grow faster than solitary study,” Kie said as she placed her hands in front of her, clasped.

  “The sect kind of encourages us to compete, doesn’t that make it stupid to share?” someone spoke up.

  “There is a fundamental difference between ‘competing’ and ‘conquering’. The spirit of the sect means that you can make each other rise to match your strength or have someone to surpass. It’s not about beating everyone down into the ground and reigning supreme,” Kie corrected.

  Her eyes lingered on you then Pola as she smiled then moved on.

  “The next means to grow is the Merit store. Many cultivation techniques for every art and lesson can be found there, but be warned that their cost is deceptive at first,” she raised her hand and seemed to be thinking before writing down some examples.

  “A Stone-rank technique that would aid you in achieving a second rank in your body would be between 20 and 25 merits, but for rank 3 techniques for body, it would be closer to a 100 to 150, depending on the exact method,” she spoke as she wrote out the numbers.

  “These rank 3 techniques would be very weak and may even have you trained twice as long as a supreme rank 3 technique,” she added.

  Kie looked over her shoulder.

  “Such a complete technique would be closer to 300 merits,” she said softly.

  “It would be more advisable to use your credits to purchase tools to aid you in tasks or expeditions,”Kie explained as she wrote down another word.

  It was the word ‘library’.

  “The library has a more likely chance of resulting in a technique as each library pass is a fixed price. Gaining access to one floor could offer over thousands of books and scrolls,” she said and people leaned in, eager to listen.

  “However, unless you know what you’re looking for? A ‘technique to pass rank 2 body’ is going to require a lot of reading. You won’t be reading quick and precise scrolls of a technique but books with theories, ideas, and author biases,” she said and people sagged at her words.

  Kie shrugged at their look.

  “The sect gets hundreds of books submitted to them a day by our collectors, traders, and other sects we trade with. The amount of scrolls that get mis-classed or not quite fully read before they’re sorted is staggering,” she smiled.

  Pola looked ready to rocket out the room as if on fire.

  “The final two methods of progression are simple. Impress a higher sect member during class or by chance or expeditions rewards,” Instructor Kie said and the room went still.

  “Yes, expeditions have rewards. Who brings the most of such a thing or the best quality of that thing or even who can bring back a very rare material and/or more,” she waved a hand.

  “It begins with merits then quickly becomes techniques or rare tools,” she finished, smiling at their excitement.

  “If you wish to know about such things. Technique class and Tool Class are available. Remember to sign on before tomorrow if you wish to go on an expedition. I’ll leave a short scroll ner the door for you all to take in which details where we’re heading and what we are seeking,” she said and ended the lesson.

  Gained Expedition details:

  The Lover’s lake

  Danger rank: Stone rank 4-8.

  Materials: Lakeside Hops. Tear shells. Needle Fish bones. Coiling Snake Vines. Concentrated Clay.

  A massive lake that doesn’t have many threats. In the deeper parts, Rockteeth Salmon roam and Bloodsnappers can be found near the lake edge. The lake is not scouted everyday as sometimes it can be only an hour away or a day away depending on the mood of the forest.

  Possible rewards: A rank 2 Sea technique(water element). A Curving Grass Sword(Low Stone Rank tool). Three Mistwood Pills(aids all cultivation attempts up to rank 2) and more.

  You asked Kie about the golden lion style before you left and she shook her head, admitting to having no knowledge of it. She did say that Mayeso was a martial arts expert despite the class he taught.

  ---

  You cultivated with Giro, trying to improve your mastery of the technique. Giro surprised you by already being a fair bit through the technique.

  “It helps a little with my dantian,” he explained and you nodded, eager to get started yourself as you both relaxed in Giro’s hut, the smell of meat jerky rich in the room.

  The technique once again had you opening a slow path to your dantian to the outside, this time the technique instructed you to slowly push Qi out and pull in fresh Qi. It was very uncomfortable as the outside Qi was tinged with all sorts of things that would normally be purified by your body.

  Slowly, your dantian adjusted to the feeling of having to host such things without taking damage. The ability to have such a potent source of Qi that wasn’t your own was key to taming and this technique. Before long, you could handle the air flowing into your dantian in a near constant flow.

  You could almost see your dantian toughen from the experience.

  Dantian Bloom: Able to intake portions of unpurified natural Qi into your dantian without harm. This technique, while not used as such, can toughen your dantian if you achieve great results with your training. While not much use right now, you did notice that some of your own Qi left with the natural Qi. Most do not bother mastering the technique beyond this point as it is sufficient to use in taming. Mastery 2 of 5.

  Dantian rank 1: 1>2

  Taming: already rank 1. No gains at this mastery rank.

  You turned to Giro but paused as his Qi fluctuated suddenly. His presence, soft and ponderous, seemed to grow a little more pronounced as his Qi felt slightly more potent.

  Giro Dantian: Rank 1 achieved.

  Then as that settled down, Giro gained a profound expression as his Qi bloomed, as if he was seeing himself in contrast to the natural Qi of the world. His own Qi reached out and seemed able to flow better with purpose.

  That looked familiar...

  Giro gains Taming rank 1

  “Well done-” you began but you had to stop as Qi rushed once more, his body flexed as if compressing power, and his sea brushed stronger against your own in a flash. He suddenly opened his mouth and hacked out black mist that looked pungent and impure that rapidly vanished.

  “Are you okay?” you asked and he nodded quickly, smiling.

  “Never better! I feel amazing,” he admitted.

  He looked wobbly so you helped him to his bed and let him get some rest as it seemed such rapid breakthroughs were a little tough on the body.

  ---

  Knowing that the expedition was coming soon and all you had to arm yourself with was your fists, you decided to try and find a weapon’s class and found out only a foundation’s weapon class was open to you.

  The class was taught near the elemental classes and out in the open field where grass had been carefully groomed into a sort of arena. Even as a light drizzle of rain fell, the instructor didn’t lead you all inside.

  The man looked like he belonged inside a scholarly academy with long flowing green robes with sleeves of azure blue. His face was middle-age, his well-groomed beard only slightly streaked with gray.

  His presence was almost as intense as Instructor Mayeso’s.

  “For those new to my class, I am Instructor Hou. I am here to find each one of you the tool that most belongs in your hands,” he said and his voice was gentle but clear.

  “In my training, I have mastered over a thousand types of weapons. From throwing needles to war axes, I have honed my cultivation and life to mastering each one and now I will begin to impart that knowledge to you all,” he said and you sat a little straighter as his eyes swept the group.

  One by one, he handed out wooden swords to everyone and told them to do an overhead swing followed by hip swings. He didn’t explain why or for how long to do so. The sword was rough and lacked anything beyond the most basic features. Even from just swinging the sword for a few rounds, you could feel the energy it took to keep the movements up.

  Body: 1/1

  But you were easily one of the few in class who didn’t need to slow down or even look labored by the exercise.

  Instructor Hou watched carefully and picked people out to swap the weapons in their hands for new ones. Most got a more angular sword or straight edge ones, but some students got entirely new kinds of weapons like axes or shields with ‘teeth’ on the edge.

  All of them were wooden but the diversity surprised you. A few students were moved between a few dozen weapons before Hou was happy to move on to the next student. You wondered if it was his cultivation or some technique that let him know how naturally adaptive someone was to a weapon?

  It wouldn’t surprise you now. You had a technique that made you glow.

  He stopped before you, watching you swing the sword as he smiled.

  “No talent with the elegant blade hm?” he asked and you tried not to wince as the sword felt like a limp fish in your hands. He made you try an ax but it was quickly snatched away.

  “Too enthusiastic,” he muttered to himself.

  Next up was a spear and it felt okay. Hou watched for a moment.

  “A last resort if nothing else, but I have faith I will find you a weapon yet,” he said brightly as if a tricky student was a pleasing puzzle to him.

  He soon had you narrowed down to three weapon types.

  One was a tool you were intimately familiar with having used some form of it on the farm, a long wooden imitation of a flat blade melded into a wooden handle as big as yourself. You used it to cut wheat, this thing looked like it wanted limbs.

  Another looked to be a pair of beast claws someone had recreated out of wood that hung over your hands, extending your reach by a foot or so, their four straight edge points curved at the end into hooks.

  The last was the most odd, a wooden fan with a hard edge that doubled as a blunt weapon.

  “Now, before you choose your weapon, have you taken the class on tools?” Hou asked, seeing your expression. You shook your head, not yet getting around to it.

  “Understandable, it is your first week,” Hou said, massaging his beard as he thought. He gathered the class around for a sudden impromptu lesson.

  He went into a box nearby that looked lacquered where he pulled out a fan, a scythe, and a set of claws. There was no way those should have fit in such a box but they clearly did.

  “Weapons are classed as a type of tool. A tool, which you’ll learn soon enough, is anything a cultivator uses in the field. In most cases, the less polite of us would only accept tools that can handle Qi to be called as such,” Hou admitted as if wasn’t happy to be considering such people.

  “All things we use to advance our cultivation, be it to defend ourselves or seek victory in battle are our tools, our bodies are tools, our minds are tools, and more. All we use is to better ourselves. In some cases, when choosing a weapon, you must all be aware that each weapon does more than it seems to,” he explained, opening the fan, showing a pale green sheen with talons on each folder that looked like it could tear skin from bone.

  He opened it a quarter wide and flick his wrist, creating a breeze.

  You activated your Revealing Eyes and felt your jaw drop as a mass of wind Qi flowed like a tiger forward and cut three training posts in a single swipe. The act was so vague it was only due to your mastery of the technique that even let you glimpse what happened. The amazing thing was that the Qi mostly came from the fan itself. It was like the fan did the technique and not Instructor Hou! The other students only saw the posts fall and a ripple of excitement spread outwards.

  Hou did the same with the claws and scythe. The claws raged with fire Qi and the cuts he inflicted on another pole went deep, then the edges began to burn outwards in vine-like patterns.

  The scythe glowed with a familiar shimmer of light Qi and you watched as he swung it like an artistic dancer. When he finally let the weapon lash out, a large swish of light Qi cut along the ground then seconds later the grass erupted upwards in a violent rush of force and the log was split down the middle then was torn apart by the following force.

  Smiling at their excitement, Hou turned back to the class.

  “Before you let ideas form and bury too deep. I should let you know that each weapon is unique to its creation. Even if another fan was made, it might have its own elements with water or darkness with different effects. Perhaps a scythe used to part water and lightning? Or claws that would rend the darkness with light? These are just examples,” he warned.

  “Making such tools is a highly respected art that uses Alchemy, Inscriptions, and mastery of the elements,” he said then began to hand out ‘Emerald Wood’ weapons that could stand a beating from a stone-rank 5 beast for a short time.

  It was ‘to let you all get used to it’.

  You went up to grab your own weapon.

  The scythe called to you. It would remind you of where you always came from.

  Gained Emerald Wood Scythe: Requires Stone-Rank 5 to use comfortably. Has no innate abilities but it is reliable.

  Scythe Dao unlocked: Rank 0: 1 of 10.

  ---

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  Hou’s wisdom made you curious about Tool Class so you ventured over there next to see Kika of all people there.

  “How can I learn to be a sword goddess if I don’t know how to recharge my swords before battle, it would be embarrassing,” she said with a sage nod.

  It made sense.

  The teacher was a snarling angry old man who looked like he’d rather be in bed nursing his hangover. His eyes were watery and his skin looked veiny as if he didn’t get enough fresh air.

  “Bad enough some fool tried to mix all the elements into a spear using stone-rank materials, but I had to clean the element decay off the ceiling because no one else in this damn compound knows their yin energy from their yang!” he said with a growl and stared at the class.

  “Now, I have to teach you all as if you didn’t come right here after weapon class to learn how to make the same mistake,” he accused.

  “I came from Dantian class,” Kika said defensively and the man waved her off.

  “Let me complain, child. I have a terrible headache being exposed to half-ruined inscriptions and poor work all morning,” he sighed and sat down as if to gather himself.

  “Are half-ruined inscriptions painful to look at? To one’s sea?” you raised a hand and the man nodded.

  “Imagine a concept or a symbol that is whole and trust. Say the symbol for ‘bird’. It’s a simple one, but then imagine it was torn in half and twisted with burn marks. Seeing it would make you envision birds in the same condition but alive. The parts would form in gruesome detail,” he said and you shivered.

  “Normally such inscriptions just don’t work, but the fool’s spear was still channeling Qi. I think he was trying to make it fly. Instead, the spear made anyone holding it feel crushed and broke the fingers that held it. Lots of nasty symbols,” he said and sat forward.

  “But enough of others work. I am here to instruct you in the diverse field of tools. I am Instructor Jeosung. Follow my lessons and I will never find the need to curse your names in my sleep,” he said gravely.

  He clapped his hands and symbols lit up on the four walls of the lecture room.

  On one was a section of swords, spears, and arrows. On another there were slips of papers and robes with their arms stretched out. The third wall had bottles and wrapped up spheres. The last wall had large crystals and gate-like things.

  “Weapons, Talismans, Resources, and Relics,” Jeosung said with a more relaxed tone as if he was moving into more comfortable topics of conversation.

  “Weapons are what most people think of when they imagine cultivators fighting or fending off beasts. They’re creations made in the shape of weapons allowing them to be both a combat aid and a means to channel Qi for more useful effects. A sword that cuts the foe is useful, but a sword that cuts the foe and detects poison might be slightly more useful,” Jeosung mused as if the idea was funny to him.

  “Talismans are non-combat items that carry similar functions. Due to their less defined shape than weapons, they can be created for clothes, amulets, earrings, rings, a stone in your garden, and so forth. Many like to use them to create passive effects like a barrier or some means of storing items,” Jeosung continued.

  “Resources are items that are to be made and used at the owner's whims. Potions, alchemic bombs, inscription-like attacks, and more. Resources cover the most types of items. Knowing where you are going and what dangers you will face will allow you all to maximize this area,” the teacher went on as he turned to the last wall.

  You supposed it would be a bit pointless stocking up on anti-fire stuff and then finding out you were fighting some river monster.

  “Relics are...” Jeosung trailed off as he tried to find the correct terminology for the level of the class.

  “Relics are all the previous areas and more. They should not be possible to be made with your current abilities or the next realms but somehow, be it divine intervention or sheer dumb luck, you end up making a tool that surpasses your cultivation rank or possesses an ability that would require very rare materials in any other creation,” he explained and suddenly looked very serious.

  “Never go out intending to make a relic. Such hubris tends to invite disaster,” he said coldly and the room’s temperature plummeted as his bad mood seemed to affect the very air.

  “Is there an opposite of a relic?” someone asked and you were surprised to see Kai at the back of the room. Jeosung stared at him for a very long time.

  “Cursed items,” he said softly and moved on. You stared at Kai but he wasn’t looking at you.

  He was having an intense glaring match with the student in the far back corner.

  Sedit.

  Jeosung passed out a vial for everyone to take away with them.

  “Moon Grass Potion, it’s a curative of light wounds and a stopper of death in a pinch,” he said and you saw the bottle was capped and sealed.

  Kika was about to open hers when the instructor swooped past on the way out.

  “It turns useless if exposed to air for too long,” he said and Kika nearly dropped hers on the ground in surprise.

  “I just wanted to see if it smells as bad as the snapper heads,” she muttered.

  Behind you, Kai was standing before Sedit who looked bored of the other boy.

  “Perhaps it will aid with headaches, Sedit. One can hope,” Kai said and his aura was tingly with light Qi and Sedit glared back.

  “I’ll have to see if you disappear if I drink it,” he retorted darkly.

  “It would be better if such a ‘headache’ was returned without a fuss to its proper owners and all can be forgiven,” Kai pressed and Sedit stood, showing he was only a little bit shorter than Kai.

  “If we all did that, Winters? Your family would have nothing left to their name,” Sedit said and Kai went to raise his fist when Jeosung turned back with a frown.

  “Class is over, leave,” he commanded.

  “Anything we own, was rescued from long dead clans and punished demon families,” Kai said and left the classroom, leaving Sedit’s face to twist in fury.

  “Do you also feel like you’ve been missing some drama or is it just me?” Kika asked curiously at you.

  “I’ve been too busy making friends and learning to notice,” you admitted.

  Moon Grass potion gained

  ---

  “Those who covered the snappers before can do some self-study while I catch the new kids up. I’ll wander over to give tips in a bit,” Instructor Bright called as confused students in white looked around for the ‘snappers’.

  You wandered a bit further than most, finding traces of Snappers all over the place. It was amazing that you walked this path before and never noticed anything out of sorts. It was amazing what a little education could do.

  It wasn’t long before you came upon a strange sight. Two Blood Snappers were nearing each other but didn’t seem to be making any overt aggressive movements towards the other. One of them unearthed themself slightly and the many snapper heads began to vibrate, shaking slightly with a red mist that seemed to permeate the air before falling into the soil. Slowly, a low-pitch harmony from the heads picked up pace and the other Snapper also appeared, mimicking the motion as they sprayed thick blood mists over each other and the ground. Slowly, something emerged in the blood-soaked ground between them, a single bulb with just one Snapper head. The two ‘parents’ wandered off without looking back and the new born flopped over, wobbling.

  You got closer and the thing lashed out, landing on your close finger, but your Stone-Rank 6 form didn’t even let you feel the bite. Holding it, you felt it and to your surprise, even just being born this little Snapper was already a Stone-Rank 4 creature. It swirled Qi as naturally as breathing.

  The mist that soaked it was meant to give it a headstart in feeding and growing, but you had appeared before it could bury too deep. It continued to try and eat you with little success as you continued to examine it.

  “Cute when they’re small but then they grow up,” came Instructor Bright’s voice and you turned to see her leaning against a tree. When did-

  Instructors were a little scary.

  “Gonna tame it? Snappers aren’t usually a go-to pet due to their...” Bright watched it hang from your finger, its bulb-body swinging helpless as it chewed.

  “Lack of feet,” she finished.

  “I’ve only studied the basic theory,” you admitted and she grinned.

  “About to blow your little snow-white taming peach,” she said and looked around suddenly nervously.

  “That taming weirdo isn’t here... he sometimes gets possessive of his students,” she muttered.

  “Instructor Weo Ju-” you began and she covered your mouth quickly.

  “Shh! If you say their name too loudly, somewhere in the world a young woman grows gray hair,” Bright said with panic.

  Saying what does what?!

  “How come?” you asked, freeing yourself and Bright turned serious.

  “No one can be that pretty without dark techniques,” she hissed. She stroked her long hair with a nervous shiver.

  “And I’m the most beautiful woman around so surely they'll come after me,” she whimpered.

  It must be amazing being Instructor Bright, the confidence was astounding.

  “So taming?” you pushed and Bright blinked then rubbed the back of her head.

  “Right! If you wanna tame the little snapper, it’s easy! You must be roughly Stone-Rank 6 or so, just open your Dantian and intake some of its Qi. Normally, you’d have to beat the thing you want to tame to a smear first but I think we can risk it this time,” Bright said dryly as she eyed the baby snapper.

  Right, you were just going to tame this thing.

  Easy!

  ---

  In a dark room lit only by candles that burned blue, Weo Jung looked up sharply, their green hair shifting like mist.

  “Someone is guiding one of my lambs,” they said and in the rafters a black snake the length of three men snoozed, its head close to a sleeping wolf.

  “MY INNOCENT LAMBS!” Weo Jung cried, smearing ink over their face in dismay.

  ---

  Slowly, using the Dantian Bloom skill, you ‘inhaled’ some of the Blood Snapper’s Qi into your dantian and nearly wanted to choke. It was unlike natural air and so much hotter. It burned and at the same time, the Qi tried to tear and damage your dantian to escape.

  It was easy enough to handle but you imagined how it would be with an adult Snapper or something of your own rank.

  Then you imagined the agony of a higher ranked beast.

  Shivering, you slowly nurture the Qi with your own and pushed it back out to the Snapper who seemed to have gone still.

  Over a period of minutes, you took in its Qi, nourished it with your own, then passed it back to the Snapper until there was a definitely ‘knot’ of your own Qi inside the plant. Soon, a similar knot was in your dantian made up of the Snappers Qi.

  They two knots, even separated by distance, began to beat as one.

  Then like a bridge, its awareness filtered into yours and the plant changed slightly, its only small red snapper head turning pale pink. It still kept trying to eat you but that was just what it did as a creature.

  It seemed taming babies would be easier but also provide their own challenge.

  Tamed: Immature Blood Snapper!

  Snapford the Blood Snapper(Immature)

  Rank: Stone-4

  Type: Blood Eating Plant

  Natural Affinity: Water

  Current bonuses: None until it matures.

  Maturement requirement: 7 days and being fed blood once a day. Chicken blood would be best.

  A Blood Snapper is an ambush predator that most see as pests. Their heads can be used in a few potions and crafting.

  “I don’t have a pot,” you mused and Bright reached over, tore a chunk off a boulder, gouged the insides off and used her Qi to do... something before she handed you a hollowed out plant pot made of stone.

  “Normal ceramics aren’t a good idea with these guys,” Bright said... brightly.

  If she could do that to stone?

  You could only imagine what she did to people that upset her.

  “Thank you, Instructor Bright,” you bowed and she waved you off.

  “No big deal. Walk with me. I heard you’re going to Lover’s Lake? Some nasty things to watch out for,” she warned and began to give you tips as she rescued a panicked student from being chewed on by three immature Snappers who were drawn to a papercut.

  She talked about the Lakeside Hops and how they had a strong scent that could cause imbalance and a blurring of the mind to low stone ranked cultivators.

  “The real danger is the Rocktooth Salmon who use the plants to lure in confused prey. If you see a bushel shaking on its own, it's likely a salmon is in the water doing it for a meal,” she warned.

  “Coiling Snake Vines... always cut from the outside in. Never let more than three be around you at any time. The vines don’t grow in the trees but they ‘migrate’ into a tree and use it as a disguise. The vines survive by rotting their prey at the base of the tree and then-” she paused to think of her words.

  “If you see a rotting corpse moving about near a tree, it’s likely to be the vines,” she said with a strained smile.

  “Does this lake have any nice plants?” you asked and Bright grinned.

  “Plenty, but those are above your paygrade or just nice to sniff. But don’t sniff anything, it might kill you,” she added quickly as if remembering she was a teacher.

  Sniff nothing. Touch nothing. Never be surrounded. Trust nothing.

  Were you going to collect flora or go to war?

  Herbology rank 1: 1>3 of 10

  Blood Snapper Mastery: Maxed! 2 points of Herbology gained.

  Herbology rank: 3>5 of 10

  Blood Snappers mastery 3 obtained: Cannot be ambushed by these in their natural environment outside of disaster events. You have a +2 in combat against these creatures. You can now always get 10 snapper heads without fail when gathering. Very rarely, you’ll get a specialized water Qi core. Mastery 3 of 3.

  Taming rank 1: 1>3 of 10

  Dantian Bloom gains +2 to its next training roll.

  Before you left. You asked Bright about the Golden Lion style and she got an odd look on her face before she shook her head.

  “Ask Mayeso. That guy should know,” she said and left the area.

  -----

  Kika was a little proud of herself as she watched the other three sit on the blanket under a small gazebo near the temple they always trained at. She would have preferred a sunny day to rest on the grass but the rain didn’t want to agree.

  “I brought some berry bread sandwiches,” she said and Pola perked up.

  “I brought some sweetcakes, stuffed buns, and water,” she offered and Kika tried not to drool. Giro opened a bulging pack and brought up meat sticks, meat sandwiches, meat puddings, meat snacks, and more meat.

  Kika turned to Dei, watching the kind boy pull out a little bag of familiar looking green things.

  “Oh those look interesting,” Pola said curiously and before Kika could stop her, she popped a snapper head into her mouth.

  “Snapper heads improve your body and should help you become stronger. I’ve recently been studying all about snappers and they’re so interesting. I even got one for myself!” he said excitedly and brought out an unsightly stone plant pot with a squirming thing in the middle.

  Pola began to let out a choking noise as her face turned green.

  “You got one as a pet?” Kika asked as the Blood Snapper looked around for prey. Giro tossed it a bit of lumpy meat which it tore apart with relish. Pola was foaming now and her eyes had gone distant. Kika knew her pain and passed her some water as the veins in her neck pulsed and some of her fingers twitched.

  “I have more. I got so good at studying them that taking heads off is pretty easy, no offense Snapford,” Dei told the plant who simply stared at Giro as if seeing him as a more potent source of meat.

  Kika didn’t know how something with no eyes managed to stare, but the plant managed it.

  “Dei, what have you been doing since we got here? I swear you’ve picked the most random of classes,” Kika said as she tried to push the plant pot away from her but the damn thing weighed a massive amount and she boggled at how Dei could even carry it.

  Then again, Dei may be lacking in a few things, but ‘body’ was not one of them.

  “A little of everything, seeing what I like and don’t. Elemental is really cool, Herbology might not have been interesting but my teacher makes it fun, and I got told I was too advanced for the sea of consciousness class at my current level,” he grumbled but smiled as Snapford lashed out and ate a fly trying to land on the food.

  “And you’re studying weapons, inscriptions, and tools on top of that?” Pola managed to speak after downing half her drink. She looked slightly red as if she wanted to run around to let off steam.

  “And taming,” Giro added as he picked through the cakes.

  “What, no alchemy? Advance technique class? Spiritual Fishing? Qi Chef lessons?” Kika asked sarcastically but inside she was a little intimidated at the sheer spread of knowledge the other boy was gaining.

  She had to take some classes twice to just get a basic understanding.

  It wasn’t like Dei was even neglecting his cultivation to make time. Out of all them, Dei felt the most ‘balanced’.

  “It’s only the first week,” Dei said with a bright smile and he made it sound so... simple.

  Maybe it was?

  “What rank are we all?” Pola asked curiously and Dei answered without hesitation.

  “Stone 6,” he answered, reaching for a meat stick with permission of Giro.

  “Rank 6 as well. I broke through not long ago,” Giro smiled as everyone looked happy for him.

  “Rank 6!” Kika managed not to stumble. She had been feeling immensely proud of her progress but it seems she was only keeping pace...

  Pola coughed and looked down.

  “7,” she mumbled.

  There was a collective silence before Dei leaned in.

  “That is so amazing. Pola, you’re making great progress,” he praised and Pola exhaled with relief.

  “How did you do it?” Kika asked and Pola perked up as if she liked the feeling of being asked questions about education and stuff. Kika guessed it suited her.

  “Well, I trained a little with Dei sometimes so I managed to get my mastery of light to rank 1. Aside from that, I go to Instructor Kie’s lessons everyday and sometimes it’s just me and we have tea. That tea made my dantian seem to grow faster,” Pola said, ponderous as she recalled the drink.

  Magic tea?! Kika was a little envious!

  “I also went to Inscription class a lot! I’m already Rank 2 in it,” Pola said with pride for the first time since Kika had met her.

  “Inscription and learning Earth rank 1 seemed to push my Sea to rank 2, I think my dantian is near rank 2 as well. Other than that, I just browsed the merit store for techniques and low-rank inscription manuals,” she said and Kika tilted her head.

  “You seem tougher but also... more?” she questioned and Pola looked down at her hands.

  “I might... uh... be close to Stone 8 but my body needs time to prepare because I broke through rapidly before,” she explained and Kika couldn’t help the envy growing in her at the other girl’s progress.

  “What does rank 8 even need?” Giro asked curiously as he played with... Snapford. The plant was doing its best to ignore the meat in Giro’s fingers and focused on the fingers.

  “If you’re ready and you don’t break through too quickly, you only need a supplementary skill at rank 2 or higher, which I have for my Inscription. Once Dai hits rank 7, he should be ready for 8 as well because he’s amazing at using light!” Pola praised the boy who smiled back with appreciation.

  “Aside from that, I’ve begun studying weapons for the trip but Instructor Hou said I best fitted dual knives and I haven’t begun to train with them,” she concluded. She turned to Giro who had Snapford stuck to his finger and the plant had drawn blood but Giro seemed to find it neat.

  ‘Boys’ Kika said, shaking her head in dismay.

  “What about Giro? What have you been training in?” Pola asked politely. The boy looked up, surprised to be asked.

  “I’ve been going to taming class a lot and I think my teacher had a mental breakdown earlier,” he said and Kika blinked at him.

  Cultivators were usually strong of mind. What kind of cultivator had a breakdown? Dei suddenly looked very intently at his sandwich.

  “He was carried in by his wolf and he looked like he was caught up in a storm as he was stabbing a doll with pigtails with a ton of needles,” Giro said, sounding curious but not disturbed by the event.

  “That’s insane,” Kika protested and Giro shrugged.

  “Not really. He’s a weird guy. One lesson, he taught a lesson while wearing a funeral gown and when someone asked why, he said ‘we must mourn because a character died in a book I was reading’. Another time he lit an incense stick and his hair caught fire, but he didn’t stop teaching,” Giro listed.

  “Maybe taming beasts makes you lose a sense of normalcy?” Pola suggested and the three of them turned to Dei who was chucking pieces of meat to Snapford who was snatching them out of the air.

  “So I’m getting half-way to taming rank 2 thanks to Instructor Weo Jung. He’s weird but it makes a lot of sense and sometimes he lets us practice our Dantian Bloom technique on his wolf and it teaches me so much!” Giro became more animated as he spoke.

  “So, he is a man?” Dei asked and Giro faltered.

  “He was a few times, but other times... not,” he trailed off and Kika didn’t understand.

  How could one be a man sometimes and not other times?

  “Other than that, I've been studying Techniques a lot. I don’t think I’ll be getting a weapon because... of my dreams, but Dei let me know that I should speak to Instructor Mayeso so maybe I’ll know better soon. For now, I’m near rank 1 of techniques,” he said and then thought about what else he had been doing.

  Kika appreciated Giro a lot right now, he made her feel normal.

  “The last thing I’ve been doing is applying to learn some Qi Cooking using merits. It’s not a normal class so there isn’t an easy way to get lessons, but I’ve already started to love it,” Giro concluded with a grin.

  Everyone turned to Kika who turned red.

  They all sounded so impressive...

  “I uh...” she cleared her throat, trying to look more casual than she felt.

  “I got Technique rank 1. I’ve begun to get more use out of the tree punching technique because of it,” she began and her mind went blank in panic. She knew she had done more!

  A hand touched her arm and she nearly leapt out of her skin.

  “You got this,” Dei said and his Qi was bright to her senses, warm with assurance. Kika took a slow breath in and out.

  “Sorry, I wanted to sound more impressive,” she smiled weakly and the others seemed to understand.

  “I’ve been training with a Jian and I think I’m near rank 1. I trained a little with light thanks to Dei and that’s also rank 1. I went to train with water and it's not quite making any progress,” she winced.

  “Other than that, I practiced a little with tools and got my body to rank 1,” she concluded. She shot a dark look at Snapford.

  “The snapper heads... helped,” she said through gritted teeth and Pola turned pale. The plant turned to her as if sensing her glare.

  It drooled with fresh blood and seemed hungry for more.

  “Who’s going on the expedition tomorrow?” Dei asked and Kika shook her head.

  “I don’t have taming, herbology, or alchemy. I don’t qualify,” she said, not too upset at the result. She didn’t really want to walk for three hours to go to some swampy lake.

  “I want to see if I can tame a Coiling Snake Vine for taming class for extra points,” Giro spoke up.

  “I’m also going but it's a little different,” Pola spoke up, looking embarrassed.

  “Instructor Kie is taking me as an assistant so I can help her coordinate the students and hand out instructions when she’s busy,” she explained. Kika leaned over and patted Pola’s hand. At the confused look Kika got in return, she smiled.

  “When you become a teacher’s assistant and cultivate ahead of us, remember me as your poor classmate, slide me some scrolls once in a while,” she batted her eyes. Pola tilted her head but Giro spoke up, looking amused.

  “She’s already cultivating ahead of you,” he pointed out and Kika went to get her Jian from her bag.

  “Don’t look Snapford, this could affect your delicate mind,” Dei said as he covered the snapper’s little head with his hands. In response, Kika saw it popped out a second head to watch Kika chase Giro and it seemed to enjoy the show.

  In the end, the sun set and it was soon time for the expedition