While standing outside the glowing, white truck, Micro recalled the sensation of picking energy out of a puddle of rain, and took hold of some of the energy dancing in the air around him. It hurt much less to hold his own energy than the rain’s, and it almost felt comfortable to grasp. He placed it on the ground several paces from the truck, and was pleased to see it respond to his will. He wondered what the ground was made of, but he didn’t dwell on it. As it came to rest on the invisible ground, it took the shape of a glowing, green brick. Though he had imagined a red brick, he knew it would do.

  “I’m glad I saw the old man build a few of these before,” Micro thought with a nostalgic smile. “This shouldn’t take long.”

  One by one, bricks formed from the energy around him, and he diligently continued to place them neatly beside each other until a large structure had formed around the truck which was his own soul. The more time he spent transforming his energy into something he could use, the more natural it felt.

  Micro gradually came to understand that he could be more selective of the energies he harnessed, flicking away bits of impure debris with a thought, and producing a shinier brick in the process. Some impurities were light and easy to remove, while others felt hot to hold in his hand. He did his best to remove them, but he felt hurried by the storm still raging outside.

  Before long, he had managed to recreate a scene so familiar to him that he was confident he’d recreated every detail, down to the smallest imperfections in the shingles on the roof and the noisy squeak of the door as it opened and closed. He recreated the concrete floor and the land around the building too, complete with the grass and wildflowers that grew on it. He even recreated the small remote control the old man installed a few years ago.

  “The weather has really cleared up,” Micro noted as he looked around his core. “Ah, it’s more that I used it all up.”

  Much of the energy which had previously been swirling around so violently was now neatly packed into the components which made up his core, inside of which his soul was comfortably contained. However, there was still an abundance of energy floating in the air like a dense fog.

  “Now to clean up a little,” he thought while looking around at the fog of energy. He’d already had to repair several shingles as the storm of energy raged earlier, so he quickly created several large cardboard boxes and began to stuff the energy inside. Some of the energy felt dirty to touch, so he also recreated the garbage bin next to the garage and disposed of it there.

  “I’ll have to ask about garbage disposal rules soon. Some places are so strict about that…” He wasn’t sure how long it took, but eventually he’d gotten used to scooping up large amounts of energy and storing it quickly in boxes, which he was then able to store in the garage on the faithfully reconstructed shelves. He worried that he might not have enough room for it all at first, but with some effort was able to compress quite a lot into each box.

  He had long since lost track of time when he began to feel a little tired, and he suddenly heard a voice echo in the peaceful world around him.

  “Grandfather… It’s been half a day…” Kel’s voice rang out. “Is he…”

  “It’s unorthodox…” the sect leader’s voice followed. “But I think he has succeeded, in a remarkable fashion…”

  Micro took a final look at the garage he’d made. It was exactly as he remembered it, though it was distinctly green in colour, and it was orbited by two rings of water and fire. Content with the results, he closed the garage door and allowed himself to wake up from his meditative state. He opened his eyes and took in the situation around him.

  A dozen exhausted men and women in green and brown attire leaned back against the walls of the room. The room itself was virtually destroyed, and looked more like a natural feature of the mountain than the luxurious space it had been not long before. He noticed Kel and Tae standing beside each other, both of whom looked ready to faint from exhaustion with looks of relief on their faces.

  “It’s a rare thing for one’s body to differ in nature from one’s soul…” the sect leader suddenly remarked, being the only person in the room with the energy left to do so. “They’re usually born together, after all. But with a strong core, no issues should ever arise from your unique situation. But what you have created…”

  His eyes glowed fiercely as he peered into Micro’s core from across the room, but he seemed to give up after a moment and laughed.

  “I’ve never seen a core that shape before, but it is far stronger than mine!” His frail voice filled the room with laughter before he continued. The exhausted disciples stared with wide eyes at the sect leader, but none could voice their disbelief.

  “You have an inhuman talent for visualization, boy,” the sect leader explained. “I cannot fathom the concentration required to manifest thousands upon thousands of such strange objects of such highly purified internal energy in such a short time.”

  “Usually the old man gets materials like that from a home centre,” Micro replied. “He doesn’t mill his own lumber anymore. The dust is hard on his lungs.”

  “Those materials shine so brightly that I find it difficult to discern their exact shape. I couldn’t even keep track of the arrangements, and the end result is blindingly pure… Do your thoughts never wander from your goals?” the sect leader asked. “Is your mind never clouded?”

  “I’m not sure what whether to expect in my mind yet.” He explained, surprised by how full of energy he felt. His core still felt somewhat uncomfortable, but his body felt lighter and his mind felt quicker. “I just made the best place I could think of to park my soul, and there was some room left for the extra energy.”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “So you did what you had to do…” The sect leader grinned. “As simple as that?”

  “Well, it took some getting used to, but the instructions were clear,” Micro replied happily. “Thanks, baldy.”

  The cultivators in the room all looked in shock at Micro for a moment, baffled by both his manner or addressing the sect leader and the sincerity with which he did so. The sect leader himself made a conflicted expression, but was interrupted before he could continue.

  “Pfft!” Blue’s shrill voice rang out. “Bahaha! Baldy! Stinking cultivators. Oh, humans…”

  Everyone in the room turned to see Blue sitting on Kel’s head, holding a Core Card under one arm and laughing uncontrollably.

  “What’s wrong, boy?” she asked sarcastically as she hopped directly from Kel’s head to Micro’s shoulder. “Every time I wake up from a nap, you’re either bleeding or exploding!”

  “Sorry, Blue,” Micro replied. “Where’s Trill?”

  “He’s in your pocket.” She pointed at the right breast pocket of his new clothes, and a small yellow hand poked out in reply, only one finger of which was raised. “You’re slow as mud, eh?”

  “I’m not fast, but—”

  “The card…!” The sect leader suddenly grasped at his own pocket, searching for something frantically. “How did you—”

  “Stealing shiny things from a cultivator is less work than picking acorns off a tree!” Blue laughed while flaunting the card at him, waving it over her head. “This is mine, anyway! How dare some bald little brat take my things?!”

  The room filled with tension as her tone grew slightly more serious, but her mood mellowed out with a yawn, and she hopped casually into Micro’s other pocket along with her Core Card.

  “That was a nice energy shower, by the way,” Blue addressed Micro. “Do that again sometime. It felt amazing.

  “Okay, Blue,” Micro replied happily. “Enjoy your nap.”

  Micro looked back up to find the sect leader scratching his head.

  “My name…” The sect leader mumbled.

  “Yes?” Micro said. “Did I not pronounce it right?”

  “You…” the sect leader stuttered. He spoke with a hint of fear in his eyes. “You may call me master… If it suits you…”

  “But Rose already offered…” Micro replied apologetically. “She’s very talented.”

  “Rose…” The sect leader rubbed his head for a moment and sighed. “I’m afraid she will be too busy with her own training to assist you with yours. Some fundamentals seem to need reinforcing…”

  He looked toward the doorway where Rose was peering in, but she quickly disappeared from sight with a yelp.

  “Time is the only cure for youth, after all…” He sighed with a wry smile.

  “So you’ll be my master?” Micro asked tentatively.

  “If you’ll have me,” the old man replied with a humble bow. “Fate frequently brings together those who would learn and those who would teach, though fate is often much easier to read…”

  “And you’ll teach me to eat Core Cards?!” Micro asked with increasing excitement.

  “That…” the sect leader stuttered. “I’ll help you with Core Cards, yes.”

  The cultivators watching the conversation unfold began to break their dumbfounded silence with whispers of disbelief, but none dared to question the sect leader’s decision.

  “Master Micro, how are you feeling?” Kel asked Micro. “Do you feel any instability at all?”

  “Umm…” Micro thought for a moment, poking himself in the chest several times before nodding. “I feel like I just went through a gas station car wash. I’m clean, but my ears are ringing a little…”

  “By the way…” The sect leader narrowed his eyes and emitted an intimidating aura that filled the room in the blink of an eye. He looked around at the cultivators, and Micro wondered what it was about the sect leader that made him seem so much bigger than he really was sometimes. “Let us all hesitate to share what has happened here today with those outside the sect, shall we?”

  “Yes, master!” the cultivators all replied in unison, at which point the sect leader relaxed his aura and waved them away.

  “Get some rest, young ones…” the sect leader said, gesturing for them to leave. “As for you, Micro. I’ll have you accompany Kel to his quarters for the remainder of this odd day. He’ll keep an eye on you in case anything… unpredictable… should happen.”

  He looked over his shoulder at the door, where Rose had once again appeared.

  “You’re skilled beyond your years, Rose…” he addressed the frightened and confused girl. “But you sorely lack discretion… You may return to your duties now. We’ll discuss your future in the morning.”

  She nodded once, then retreated down the steps on wobbly legs. With one final sigh, he turned to Micro, Kel, and Tae.

  “I’d expect no less excitement from three, no, four new holders of the Jade Fire Turtle Art Core Card,” the sect leader spoke as a grin formed slowly on his face. “Very interesting times. Very interesting times indeed…”

  ~

  After the sect had returned to normal and several disciples had been dispatched to clean the mysterious mess in the guest room, Tae returned to her duties elsewhere, and Kel guided Micro back to his own personal quarters.

  “I had almost finished telling my grandfather of our travels together when we heard the explosion,” he explained through a yawn. “Forgive me for having immediately assumed it was you, but I’m relieved to see you in good health, better than ever in fact.”

  “I do feel pretty good,” Micro replied. “I want more honey buns.”

  “They should have arrived this morning, master,” Kel promised. “I’ll have them reheated.”

  Micro noticed for the first time how much time had passed since his training session with Rose had begun. The sun was just past its peak, though he felt ready for a full night’s rest.

  After passing through the courtyard again, Kel led Micro through a large entrance in the side of the mountain. It opened up to a large cavern, decorated with even more statues of turtles and many beautiful paintings of the local landscape. What caught Micro’s eye the quickest though was featured in the centre of a large cavern. It was surrounded by ornate statues and fiercely burning torches, but it emitted its own light, a familiar green glow.

  “A dungeon portal?” Micro gasped. “Great!”

  “Oh, right,” Kel replied casually. “That’s the entrance to the Jade Fire Mountain Art Dungeon. It’s a permanent portal, as far as we know. That’s why our ancestors constructed the temple around this—”

  Micro had entered the shimmering gate before Kel could explain any further.