“I thought you only just arrived in this world.” Kel stared at the rare Core Card in Micro’s hand. He tried to maintain his composure while speaking, but it was difficult to restrain his curiosity. “The Spirit Shield series of Core Cards is not so common that you would stumble upon it, even in a hundred years of wandering from dungeon to dungeon.”

  “Only one known dungeon in this kingdom is known to produce an amber level Spirit Shield card, but it is an elusive dungeon which few masters have challenged successfully,” Tae added. “The help of a sect which specializes in such information is also very great.”

  “How have you come to possess such a treasure?” Kel asked enthusiastically.

  “The dragon gave it to me,” Micro stated as he returned his hand to his pocket to draw out another card. “He gave me this one too.”

  Kel stumbled back into the arms of Den upon seeing the shimmering, amber, Serpent Art card in Micro’s hand alongside the Spirit Shield card.

  “This is truly a test…” Kel sighed. “The world is vast!”

  “Even I can’t believe what I’m seeing…” Tae added, her eyes glowing furiously as she inspected both the boy and the cards in his hand. “Young master…”

  “What did you find?”

  “That’s not all,” she whispered. “He has more in his pocket…”

  The attention of all six people fell on Micro’s rusty chest plate, behind which his pocket did indeed hold several more cards. Noticing their gaze, he quickly drew the others from their resting place and proudly displayed them.

  “Feng said if I found them all, I’d be able to return one day!” he explained with a bright smile. “I wonder how many more there are…”

  “Child…” Den replied slowly. “You dare ask how many cards there are while holding more cards than most cultivators see in a lifetime?”

  “Have you ever seen a ruby Core Card?” One of Kel’s companions asked the others.

  “That accounts for some of the strange energies I sensed from him, but still…” Tae added. “Those cards, and that armour…”

  “Some of those arts are known to exist in the Tiger Moon sects,” Den thought aloud. “But now that I think about it, the armour is a bit different, no?”

  “It would also be unusual even for a sect leader to be in possession of such a variety. Was there ever a ruby level master there at all? Could it be another sect? He could—” Tae continued.

  “Enough.” Kel straightened his back and cleared his throat. “We left the sect to see the world, challenge ourselves, and prove we are worthy to stand where our ancestors stood. Micro’s fate is not for us to ascertain at this moment. Steel yourselves, for our purpose is yet unfulfilled.”

  “These are a big deal, huh?” Micro said, but he didn’t dwell on it for long.

  “Micro, protect those cards and protect yourself,” Kel continued, placing his hand over Micro’s and encouraging him to put the cards away. Kel’s voice wavered occasionally, but his will was strong. “We will continue this adventure!”

  “I will,” Micro acquiesced. “The dungeon will have more, right?”

  “It will, though its rewards are not easily claimed.” Kel’s voice became solemn. “My uncle perished in this dungeon many years ago when it appeared east of here, as many others have done.”

  “So, dungeons have Core Cards.” Micro made a complicated expression as he tried to understand the explanation he’d received. “I need to find a master, fix my core, find the dungeons…”

  “You make it sound so easy,” Kel said with a strained smile. “You are not affected by the scale of such a task?”

  “Then… then I can find a way home,” Micro finished mumbling to himself, and looked up at Kel with resolve. “Show me the dungeon. I’ll start there.”

  Micro’s confident expression could have been mistaken for that of a naive child, but his confidence was well noted by the cultivators in front of him. Their own expressions showed traces of shame as they realized how distracted they were by the boy’s presence.

  “May we show the same resolve,” Kel said with an intense smile. “Let us hesitate no longer!”

  “Good idea, Kel.” Micro replied with a nod.

  “Let’s move, then.” Kel began walking immediately, followed by his enthusiastic companions. “Tae, was that monster any indication that we were wrong about the dungeon’s location?”

  “Just a moment, young master,” Tae replied softly, then opened her glowing eyes and looked slowly around the cave. “It looks like we were mistaken, after all. The entrance is much closer to here than the search party estimated.”

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  Tae held out the map for Kel to see. There were several routes that lead further into the ground visible from where they stood, but she pointed confidently at one in particular.

  “That way is dense with a variety of energies,” she explained. “We may be less than an hour from our destination, so please be wary, young master.”

  With that exciting news, the party’s determination was renewed, and they set off down the tunnel at once. Tae, Den, and the rest of the attendants formed a circle around Kel and Micro, despite Kel’s insistence that he be left to fend for himself at the front of the group. Micro noticed the uncomfortable feeling of a powerful aura increasing as they drew nearer to their destination. He still had many questions, but the nausea made it hard to start a conversation.

  Kel and the others were also silent as they kept a keen eye on the surroundings. It wasn’t until Micro let out a muffled groan that Kel turned his attention to him. After observing him briefly, he understood his problem.

  “I apologize for not taking into account your inexperience with the energies a cultivator experiences.” He bowed his head slightly, and continued. “We have been discourteous.”

  “I feel weirder than usual…” Micro said with his eyes half open.

  “Those more with greater power than us are able to more skillfully control their energy,” Kel explained with a regretful tone. “But the young find it difficult to subdue one’s aura, which makes us unpleasant company for new cultivators or the mundane.”

  “It feels like driving through mud sometimes…” Micro replied, massaging the sides of his head.

  “It affects people in many different ways…” Kel shrugged away his confusion at Micro’s analogy. “But you’ve chosen the path of a cultivator, correct?”

  “Co—” Micro belched. “Correct.”

  “Then please allow this unqualified fellow cultivator to offer you a bit of guidance.” Kel placed his hand on Micro’s shoulder as they walked. “It’s not something most people learn in a short time, but I’m sure you’ll grasp the nature of the technique rather quickly, as you’ve already mastered the first step.”

  “I have…?”

  “Yes, meditation,” Kel confirmed. “Not just meditation, but the means to perceive and manipulate the immaterial.”

  “Are you talking about using rain to make fire…?” Micro’s confusion was apparent behind his sickly expression.

  “That… that would be an odd thing to do, but yes…” Kel raised his eyebrow and continued. “That is not the way a cultivator would normally utilize energy, but I can share a more straightforward defensive technique.”

  “Like your Spirit Shield Skill?”

  “It is similar, but even simpler,” Kel replied. “The skills acquired from a Core Card are far more advanced than anything a cultivator could learn on their own. What I want you to do is practice going to that place in your mind where you can perceive the energies in your own body, then visualize yourself coated in that energy.”

  “Like a coat of paint?” Micro’s eyes suddenly showed a glint of understanding, which pleased Kel immensely.

  “Exactly!” He applauded. “The energy in your core is always accessible to you, and cultivators learn how to circulate it throughout their entire body in time.”

  “Ah!” Micro blurted out as he began to follow Kel’s explanation. “Of course you don’t use fuel that’s lying around everywhere. You use the fuel you’re carrying!”

  “Fuel? Yes, I suppose…” Kel frowned, struggling to recall what he was going to say next. “An interesting interpretation, but…”

  “So, paint,” Micro stated. “You were saying?”

  “Indeed, Micro,” Kel continued. “Your task is to draw on a very small amount of that power, and practice coating yourself in it. This is a technique that requires immense concentration, mental fortitude, and imagination to—”

  “Like this?” Micro’s voice was suddenly bright, and a bright light suddenly coated his entire body for a moment before receding. The five attendants reflexively spun around to face Micro, shocked to see him coated in a dense layer of aura that swirled around him like a raging fire. After confirming that the sudden outburst of energy was not a threat, they relaxed their postures, but they remained surprised.

  “That much power…?”

  “Didn’t he just have an artificial jade core?!”

  “But wait, it’s unstable, look out!”

  As quickly as the layer of energy coating Micro had appeared, it suddenly vanished, and he fell to his knees feeling more nauseous than ever. Panting, he looked up at the motionless Kel.

  “I think I flooded the engine there…” He gasped. “I’m fine… Just wait…”

  He rose to his feet again, closed his eyes, and went back into a trance-like state. There, he once again quickly took note of small, steady streams of energy flowing out of minuscule cracks in his core, and he used his hands to spread it all around him. He tried again.

  CRACK

  Even faster than the previous time, the energy failed to stay adhered to the surface of his body, instead radiating outward all at once like a bolt of lightning, throwing him out of his trance like a leaf in the wind.

  “Micro, I’d ask you to stop doing things that make me doubt my eyes…” Kel kept a straight face as he spoke, though his eyes were beginning to twitch. “It takes practice to form a stable defensive aura, even with a fraction of the power you seem to have.”

  “I think I got it…” Micro picked himself back up, but Kel stopped him before he reentered his trance.

  “Don’t be reckless, child,” he said with concern. “Try just a little at a time for now.”

  “A thinner coat?”

  “No, just a finger.” Kel held up his pinky finger for Micro to see, and coated it with a dense and visible layer of energy. “You must learn to walk before you learn to run.”

  “I know…” Micro sighed. “I’m still not used to walking at all! These feet, seriously—”

  “You what? Never mind feet, for now. Once you are able to safely coat your finger with your internal energy, expand the coated area to the rest of your hand, then your arm, and so on.” After confirming that Micro wasn’t confused, Kel continued his lesson, and the group began to move forward again. “Practice that whenever you have the time. It is a common way for new cultivators to begin. Before we enter the dungeon, why don’t you take some time to—”

  GRRR

  “More cave bears, young master,” Tae interrupted as the group quickly equipped their shields. “Eight of them, straight ahead.”

  “We must be very close then,” Kel replied happily. “It’ll be a good warm up!”

  “Indeed! I do believe I need to clear my mind. Now…” Kel addressed the group while smiling back at Micro. “Let’s show our honoured guest what we are capable of.”