Micro was surprised by how smoothly the rest of the journey through the dark forest was. Tae had explained to him that most animals and monsters wouldn’t approach a group of cultivators uncontrolled auras, as long as they weren’t near a dungeon where one could encounter any kind of creature. It was still important never to let one’s guard down in the woods, but Micro enjoyed the quieter journey.

  When morning came, Micro was pleased to see the sun beaming through the treetops without a cloud in sight. He was even more excited when they finally came to the edge of the dense forest and stood before a vast field of long grass and flowers.

  “The old man would love it here!” Micro shouted as he ran into the grass gleefully, though his excitement was short lived as he tripped and fell. “I need to slow down…”

  “Was your master fond of fields?” Kel asked, helping Micro to his feet.

  “He likes wide open spaces,” Micro answered as he ran his hands over the grass and wildflowers. “He’s had trouble with hills recently…”

  “So even your master is not immune to the passing of time,” Kel said with a sympathetic tone. “I’m sorry to hear of his deteriorating health.”

  “That’s okay,” Micro said as he began to march ahead into the field, doing his best to limit his speed. “He has a lot of places he still needs to go.”

  The frustration Micro had constantly felt while learning to walk began to leave his body after walking through the grassy field for a while. Kel and the others were unsure what to make of the calm look on Micro’s face as he stumbled and tripped, but he had begun to walk at the front of the group at a brisk pace.

  “It’s uneven, but it’s soft!” he shouted at Kel excitedly, and he realized something else about his body. “I think… I’m getting tired!”

  “I’m glad you’ve found a surface worthy of your feet, master!” Kel shouted back. “You need not push yourself. We can travel at a speed you find comfortable.”

  “Thanks, Kel…” Micro said, noting a growing ache in his legs. “Do you have roads where you’re from?”

  “We do, master!” Kel replied as he caught up to Micro and matched his pace. “I hope you enjoy them! Do you see those three mountains in the distance there?”

  Kel pointed across the plain to the horizon where three distinct peaks rose out of the ground like waves frozen in time. Micro nodded as he tried to focus on them.

  “My sect is near the top of the tallest mountain,” Kel explained proudly. “We’ll be passing through a few villages on the way up. I was thinking we could find some more comfortable clothing for you, master.”

  “I’ve been wet, stinky, and rusty for a while now…” He replied, looking down and nodding in agreement. Micro’s old leather clothes were worn and full of holes, and the plate armour was barely recognizable through a rugged coat of rust. “A wash and a wax would feel fantastic. I’ve never wanted a fresh coat of paint so badly.”

  “We—we’ll see about the wax and the… paint…” Kel stuttered. “But there are hot springs.”

  “Young master,” Tae interrupted from behind with urgency in her voice, causing the group to slow to a stop. “There’s a new dungeon opening between us and the nearest village. It doesn’t look familiar. How shall we proceed?”

  “Another dungeon?” Micro asked. “We should go get some more Core Cards! The sooner I find them all, the sooner I get home!”

  “I see…” Kel said kindly to Micro, ignoring most of what he’d said. “That close to the village, we should probably investigate it. It may be nothing to worry about, but there’s no guarantees.”

  “Let’s go!” Micro exclaimed as he began running again.

  “Wait!” Kel cried out, but all he could do was chase after Micro. The cultivators were fast to begin with, and faster now that they were using their energy to quicken their pace to beyond what a human could normally achieve. However, they were shocked to find it impossible to catch up with Micro.

  “How is he so fast?!” Den shouted as he fell behind the group.

  “Such incredible will…” Tae grunted as she tried to run faster.

  It wasn’t until the terrain became a little rocky that Micro finally slowed down, and it wasn’t long before he tripped on a rock and was reminded of the feeling of his face meeting a rock. However, he hadn’t fallen far from a glowing hole in the ground.

  He made sure his passengers were still safely secured in his pockets, then stood up to take a look at the shimmering yellow portal. He thought he saw the shape of a feather amidst the yellow swirls of light that made up the gate, but it didn’t concern him what sort of gate it was. He would have to acquire every type of card eventually anyway. He stepped up on the stone frame of the gate, then hopped into the portal.

  “No!”

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  THUD

  As Micro was falling down into the gate, Kel collided with him, making contact just before Micro’s feet could touch the shimmering yellow dungeon entrance, and the two flew into the tall grass next to the gate with a crash that sent chunks of Micro’s rusty plate armour flying in every direction. For a moment, Micro wasn’t sure what had hit him as he struggled to catch his breath, but Kel quickly scrambled off of him and knelt beside him with a terrible expression.

  “Master…” Kel pleaded through ragged breaths. “Please… Home first, adventure later…”

  “But the dungeon—”

  “Will still be there tomorrow…” Kel assured Micro with his hands together in front of him. “And the next day…”

  “Young master, you’re safe…” Tae was the next to catch up with the two sitting in the grass covered in scratches and dirt. She breathed a sigh of relief after catching her breath. “And master, please be patient… We have a destination already, don’t we?”

  “Ah…” Micro replied. “No detours… Sorry, Tae.”

  “No need for apologies, master. We understand your enthusiasm, but we should return home and alert the sect of our findings,” Kel said, trying to ease Micro’s expression of guilt. “And even for you, tackling a dungeon one level above your own core in such a state… It might be difficult…”

  “Perhaps you would agree that stabilizing your core is a priority at the moment…” Tae spoke slowly while placing herself between Micro and the dungeon gate. She waited tentatively for an answer, ready to defend the gate should Micro suddenly make a run for it, but she was relieved when he nodded in agreement.

  “You’re right,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Lead the way!”

  “Thank you for your patience, master,” Tae said as the tension left her body. “Kas, Den! Mind the portal until we send someone back to relieve you!”

  “Understood!” The two replied in unison when they finally caught up with the others.

  Micro and Kel walked the rest of the way across the plains together, with Tae nearby at all times. Bol-En and Sung continued to patrol the area as the mountains in the distance seemed to grow taller and taller. Micro had enjoyed running on a relatively flat surface for the first time since he had acquired human legs, but walking slowly alongside Kel through the tall grass proved enjoyable in its own way.

  “I’d like to learn more about your world in time, master,” Kel began, ready to converse after recovering from his earlier sprint. “I’m sure many people would be interested to learn more about the martial arts you have studied.”

  “Martial arts?” Micro repeated while playing with a blade of grass in his hands.

  “Yes, the techniques you were trained in,” Kel explained. “Everything about you, from the way you walk to the way you think, is so foreign to us. And I can’t even fathom the world you have described to me.”

  “I can only surmise that the abilities of your previous body are so ingrained in you that they are able to manifest even in your current vessel,” Tae added. “Your strength and speed are otherwise unexplainable.”

  “Indeed, master!” Kel continued. “The power of your will contradicts the bounds of your physical form. You are truly a master among masters! I cannot imagine what techniques you—”

  “The techniques I used…?” Micro thought about the question for a while. “Well, the old man’s driving skills definitely improved over time. It was five years before he built up the confidence to take us to full speed.”

  “Full speed?” Kel asked.” “So speed was of importance to your art… I see… But how fast were you?”

  “It was only the once though! He was on his way to see a friend who, well…” Micro’s tone grew somewhat sad as he reminisced, but he continued with his explanation. “My top speed was about one hundred and twenty kilometres per hour. A tiny bit more downhill, but I doubt I could do that these days.”

  “I’m not certain how fast that is,” Kel replied with an awkward frown. “Kilo… what…?”

  “Umm, do you remember how fast we ran to the yellow dungeon a while ago?”

  “Yes, that was impressive for someone who only recently learned to harness their internal energy. Was that the speed at which you moved?”

  “About three times faster than that.”

  “Three…” Kel’s eyes widened.

  “It’s nothing compared to modern cars though,” Micro added. “I’ve been passed by young drivers going at least twice what I could do.”

  “Six times faster than you ran just now…?” Kel said with wide eyes. “Did you often encounter cultivators of such skill?”

  “Oh, half the cars on the road can do that these days,” Micro replied. “They weren’t cultivators though.”

  “Wha—” Kel blurted out, unable to find a word to respond with.

  “You’re very fast for a turtle though!” Micro laughed as Kel fell into a stupor.

  “For a turtle…?” Kel whispered with a mixture of reverence and shame, but his curiosity persisted. “What of your offensive techniques? What is your weapon of choice?”

  “Offensive?” Micro sounded slightly offended. “I’m as safe as I am efficient and reliable!”

  “I meant no disrespect, master.” Kel pursed his lips, trying to read Micro’s sudden mood shift. “So you practice empty handed arts, training the body?”

  “I’ve only had hands for a few days, but my body was made of steel,” Micro replied with a shrug. “I miss it almost as much as I miss tires…”

  “So you reached a level of body reconstruction… and at the level of steel,” Kel replied in awe. “But how would you do against someone like us?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If you were to run into one of us, would we even land a single blow?” Kel looked at Micro with a childlike expression, excited to hear his reply.

  “If I ran into you?” Micro frowned at the thought, but he remembered his last moments with his driver. “Well, I’ve only seen a Micro hit somebody once…”

  “Yes, and…?” Kel pressured Micro excitedly.

  “It was a long time ago. Traffic laws weren’t as strictly enforced back then,” Micro explained with a dark tone. “The man was about your size… It was an accident, of course, but he flew across the street…”

  “The man was sent flying across a street… by accident?”

  “I’d rather not think about it, now that I can think about it…” Micro frowned as the unpleasant memory materialized in his mind. “Thoughts have a way of getting stuck in your head, don’t they…”

  “Your vessel is truly unworthy of one as great as you, master.”

  “Thanks, Kel…”

  They walked quietly for the rest of the day.