Rose diligently continued the internal energy circulation exercise she’d been ordered to demonstrate, but her ears twitched when she heard the old sect leader mention the origin of cultivation. She tried to disguise her interest in the sect leader’s conversation with Micro, but the sect leader noticed her concentration waning and chuckled warmly.

  “It’s a popular fairy tale, after all,” he explained to Micro with a nostalgic smile. “No doubt Rose has heard it a hundred times or more from her own parents before going to bed.”

  “What kind of story is it?” Micro asked, his own curiosity growing.

  “It’s a wonderful story!” Rose blurted out, apparently by accident. She quickly closed her mouth and returned to her energy exercise, but she couldn’t hide her smile.

  “It’s the story of this world, Micro,” the sect leader began. “Countless eras have passed since the days of the first cultivators. Humanity itself was a young and immature race, unaware of the energy dwelling within and around us.”

  “You were all, what was the word…?” Micro thought aloud.

  “Mundane, indeed,” the sect leader answered. “Like those who wallow in the dirt and toil away at trivial tasks, our ancestors were once a race of mortals as prideless and slovenly as any beast of the wild. There were no dungeons then, but there was war… Endless war…”

  “I’ve heard of war…” Micro began, but he was suddenly distracted by a smell he had come to know well. “Honey buns?!”

  As the sect leader watched indifferently, the attendant called Sara suddenly appeared in the distance, quickly making her way to the area where Micro’s lesson was taking place.

  “As requested by the young master…” she said coldly.

  “Kel really is a great friend,” Micro said loudly, waving at Kel in the distance. Kel didn’t reply from his state of meditation, but Micro couldn’t hold back his excitement and hunger. “Thanks, Kel!”

  Sara gracefully placed a small bag in front of him, bowed to the sect leader, and left without another word. The smell of the baked goods nearly made Micro forget what he was doing.

  “A favourite of yours…?” the sect leader asked.

  “These are great!” Micro replied with a honey bun already in his mouth. “Do you want one?”

  “No, thank you. Please enjoy them…”

  “Okay!” Micro said as he took another bite. “You said something about a war?”

  “Indeed… No one was spared from the bloodshed that plagued this world back then. However, there emerged a heroic young warrior in a nameless kingdom whose strength became legend. Rumours spread of the man whose body burned like the sun, whose voice roared like thunder, and whose sword cut like time.”

  “He was the first cultivator!” Rose said excitedly, having given up entirely on her meditation.

  “That’s right,” the sect leader said with a warm smile.

  “You really are smart, Rose,” Micro added, and the sect leader continued.

  “His story is only legend now, but it is said that he lived a normal human life for a time. He was born, he cried, he laughed, and he loved as any other. However, one day, soldiers from an enemy kingdom came and stole the one he loved.”

  “Oh no!” Micro shouted.

  “It was not uncommon in those barbaric days, but he refused to become a victim of fate. He vowed to find the woman he loved and bring vengeance to any who would do her harm.”

  “Did he find her?!”

  “Yes, but not before destroying a large empire in the process. She was held in the tower of an evil prince who planned to marry her, but he used the power of heaven itself to turn that prince’s territory into a sea of blood.”

  “Woah…” Micro gasped. “The logistics of that alone would be—”

  “He returned home with his love in his arms, feared and worshipped by all who saw him. It wasn’t long before he had become king of his own land, and with his power, he conquered any that opposed him. The first cultivator’s empire filled the continent, and an era of peace had begun.”

  “That’s a wonderful story!” Micro applauded happily from his seated position.

  “But it isn’t over, I’m afraid.”

  “But he saved his wife and became a king,” Micro replied. “What could go wrong?”

  “He became drunk on his power, and his power only increased! His people lived in constant fear of his whims, and their worship turned to hatred. Enemies emerged in every corner of his empire, never resting in their efforts to rid the world of such a powerful evil. But none ever succeeded, and their challenge only wrought greater destruction.”

  “Oh no!” Micro gasped, nearly dropping the bun in his hand.

  “His empire, which had grown to be the strongest the world had ever seen, began to crumble in his hands as he gripped it tighter and tighter.” The sect leader’s voice took on an ominous tone that sent a shiver down Micro’s spine. “And as he himself grew more powerful, his empire grew to hate him more.”

  “That’s really not ideal…” Micro whispered.

  “However, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing the woman for whom he’d overturned the laws of nature, and so he revealed the nature of his arts to her. She quickly grew stronger, and the two of them reigned over this world for centuries, becoming known as gods to the peoples they oppressed.”

  “That’s terrible!”

  “But the first cultivator’s wife grew to resent her status as an eternal enemy of the world, and she could no longer turn her eyes away from the suffering of the mundane, so she betrayed her husband and king.”

  “What did she do?!”

  “There was little that the king did not perceive with his all-seeing eye, but she waited patiently, for many years, for but a single moment to act. She left the castle one day while the king was in a deep state of meditation, and she taught his secret art to a single boy, a humble gardener.”

  “Was that you?” Micro asked.

  “I am not quite that old!” The sect leader laughed so loudly for a moment that even Rose began to chuckle. “Nobody is sure exactly who he was, and some even argue that he was a carpenter, rather than a gardener.”

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  “He sounds like a nice person,” Micro nodded his head. “Maybe he was a mechanic, or a taxi driver!”

  “Stop interrupting!” Rose suddenly whispered at Micro. “This is the good part!”

  “The queen had a single moment to act, so she taught the boy only the most fundamental of techniques, then told him to run as far away from the castle as he could and to spread her teachings to all who would listen,” the sect leader continued. “With that, the world’s fate was altered forever.”

  “Then more people learned to cultivate?”

  “Yes, and when the king learned of what she had done, his rage was like a force of nature! He locked his queen away in a tower and attempted to track down each and every new cultivator, but it was too late. The seed his wife had planted had grown and spread far and wide. Eventually, cultivators with powers matching even the king’s had emerged.”

  “What happened to the king and queen?”

  “It is said that the first cultivator died in battle, though he fought his last is lost to history. As for his wife, there are some who say she fled the empire, while some suggest she may have fled this realm entirely. The era of cultivation began in such a way, but it was not an era of peace.”

  “They kept fighting, after all that?”

  “They did, for they were driven only by fear. Their desire for power was motivated by hatred born of that fear. And the greater their powers became, the more fear was sown. The world would surely have ended if not for the immortal’s descent.”

  “The immortal…?” Micro frowned. “I think I’ve seen a few of those on the road. New cars often have silly names like that.”

  “He is the first god known to this world, a wandering immortal whose powers surpassed the wildest fantasies of any being on this world. Compared to the evil king they’d only just overthrown, his power was absolute. His will may as well have been the law of nature.”

  “That’s a lot of power.” Micro nodded. “I bet he’d be able to help me get back to my world.”

  “Perhaps he may. He happened upon this world when it was at its most hopeless, and he pitied us. He declared that the cultivators of this world were blind to their limitless potential, and he invited us to ascend to the immortal realm where he resided after overcoming the shackles of our weakness.”

  “I think… I think I understand…” Micro stuttered as he reached into the bag in front of him, only to find it empty.

  “With the snap of his finger, all the dungeons of the world were created! The dungeons blessed us with both the trials needed to test our strength and the Core Cards which reveal his teachings to us.”

  “His teachings?” Micro asked.

  “Each card contains the knowledge required to use our internal energy to recreate a small fraction of his powers,” the sect leader replied. “In his infinite wisdom, he even created arts which embody the characteristics of natural forces commonly found in this world, though the origins of some cards’ teachings are a mystery…”

  “So, you cultivate because you want to visit him?” Micro asked while scratching his aching head.

  “That is not exactly wrong, but…” The sect leader sighed, then continued again after collecting his thoughts. “Since then, dungeons and the Core Cards within have guided the cultivators of this world down a very sacred path. No longer do we seek power with which to destroy our neighbour. Now, we seek only to strengthen ourselves, and in the perfection of our arts, we seek to ascend beyond the known limits of cultivation.”

  “Then the Core Cards are just instructions…?”

  “That is correct. They are a means for us to attain knowledge of techniques that were only known to the immortals. They are the single most precious gift that our world has received.”

  “So, you could still become powerful without Core Cards, right?” Micro scratched his head. “The immortal fellow didn’t have Core Cards until he invented them, right?”

  “That…” The sect leader paused for a moment. “In theory, I suppose you are correct. Though the question of imparting such knowledge without a Core Card could not be answered by any mortal in this realm.”

  “Speak for yourself, baldy,” Blue snapped as she jumped out of Micro’s pocket and landed on the ground beside him. “Life was way more fun before humans got their hands on those stupid cards!”

  Rose froze in place when she realized there was a pixie standing several paces from her.

  “The dark age of mankind was more… fun…?” the sect leader asked with a raised eyebrow. He stood up, perhaps instinctively, as Blue’s tiny frame emitted a powerful aura of agitation.

  “You punks were a pain in the neck then, and you’re a pain in the neck now!” Blue spat back. “But those Core Cards just made you insufferable. Of all the races on this world, humans were the ones blessed by some wandering hack of a deity!”

  “You are aware of the origin of these cards, little one?” The sect leader asked as he took a small step back.

  “You’re asking me that?” she asked sarcastically. “It wasn’t that long ago, was it? Anyways, teach me cultivation.”

  “What?!” The sect leader stumbled back to the rock where he’d been seated.

  “You heard me! I’ve got this core all of a sudden, but I can’t get it to work properly…” she mumbled as a light around her flickered.” “I’ll admit that you cultivators came up with something pretty handy. I always wondered what your hurry was, but it might actually be more fun than it looks.”

  “You wish to learn of cultivation?” the sect leader asked, his voice barely audible. Overcoming his anxiety, he finally continued. “But pixies possess terrifying powers… What need would you have for—”

  “I’m terrifying, but I’m in a hurry!” Blue interjected. “Normally I’d go sleep under an acorn and wake up when it was a big tree, but watching you humans run around breaking the laws of nature has me thinking…”

  “If you could cultivate, you wouldn’t need to siphon my fuel anymore,” Micro added. “Not that I mind, but it’s the principle of it, you know?”

  “It’s embarrassing!” Blue sighed, but then turned a fierce glare toward the sect leader. “So teach me how to eat Core Cards! And teach me that energy trick too, the one where you suck up all the energy around you real fast. That looks fun too.”

  “But pixies can’t cultivate! You—You all—” the sect leader stammered.

  “She taught me how to scoop energy up out of the rain before,” Micro said. “Isn’t that like cultivation?”

  “What?!” The sect leader blurted out again. “That’s like trying to warm your hands by sticking them into a raging fire! That shouldn’t be possible to walk away from!”

  “Oh hey, that’s what Rose said!” Micro said happily, causing the girl to blush.

  “I am happy to hear that she has retained at least some of what I taught her…” The sect leader shook his head.

  “Human bodies do seem weak, apart from their cores… Hmm…” Blue mumbled. She looked down at her chest, thinking deeply about her core. “I never had a problem storing energy in my body, but this core is really finicky… I can’t… Agh—”

  She suddenly fell backward with a bright flash of light, releasing a small shockwave of energy as she landed.

  “Of course you can’t just force such power directly into a core!” The sect leader gasped, his eyes wide with shock. “It’s a wonder you survived that… Cultivation at the earliest stages is a delicate art—”

  “Fine then, teach me how to do it properly now,” Blue requested, though it was difficult to gauge the level of her sincerity.

  “You’re a pixie… I won’t teach something like—” the sect leader stuttered, struggling to fill his voice with its usual power, but he was interrupted by a shrill sound.

  “Huh?!” she screamed back at the old man. “And why is that?”

  “You aren’t a cultivator!” he shouted back. “This is the Jade Fire Mountain Turtle Art sect, not a palace of madness! At the risk of my own death, I would not dishonour the sacred arts of my ancestors! While micro has proven himself worthy in the very dungeon which we—”

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Blue said, then calmly stood up and jumped back into Micro’s pocket, only to reappear with a Core Card under her arm. “I’ve already got the turtle card here, so I passed your stupid test, didn’t I?”

  “You—That…” he mumbled incoherently, shifting his eyes here and there in search of his next words. “But that was—”

  “That’s enough story time, baldy. It’s a bunch of cultivator nonsense, anyway,” she said with a yawn as she threw the Core Card on the ground, then proceeded to sit on it like a picnic blanket. “I swear I hear a new version of that story for every new moon.

  “You know a different version?” Micro asked.

  “I knew a guy who…” Blue began, but she turned away with a bitter pout. “I didn’t come here to dwell on the past. Let’s cultivate!”

  “Let’s cultivate!” Micro cheered along with her.

  “Let’s…” Rose mumbled, unable to find a second word to utter.

  “Madness…” the sect leader replied, shaking his head in resignation.

  “Let’s cultivate!” Micro and Blue both continued to cheer, their laughter echoing around the mountain.

  “Fine,” the sect leader said with an anxious sigh. “Let’s begin.”