Micro stood behind his six new comrades as they prepared to face the eight cave bears lumbering toward them, their noses high in the air as they followed the scent of their supposed prey. Each of Kel’s friends wore similar attire, green and brown garments, green headbands, and shields on their backs. While they each had a similar, slightly rusty sword at their side, they lacked the gold adornments Kel’s clothing had.

  Together, the six of them removed the shields from their backs, took a moment to coordinate their attacks, and then charged the cave bears without hesitation. Even Tae, whose frame was small compared to the others, was able to deflect several large rocks as they were thrown at her without losing speed. She deflected rock after rock until her shield finally collided with the head of one of the giant creatures.

  Her attack flung the cave bear against the cave wall, but it stood up again with a roar full of pain and rage. However, its next attack was deflected by Den, whose shield ripped right through its torso as Tae turned to deflect the claw of another cave bear. Kel was also alternating between defending and attacking as the six cooperated to counter the superior numbers of the enemy, though he seemed to be using less power than he had when they encountered the first cave bear.

  Micro carefully observed the way they defied the common sense he knew, using their tiny human bodies to completely overwhelm the much larger creatures in a short time, and soon the battle was over. Micro walked ahead to rejoin the group, stepping over the motionless remains of one cave bear on his way, and smiled.

  “Good job, everyone!” Micro held his hand out and made a fist, then awkwardly extended his thumb upward. Content that he had figured out how to manoeuvre his hand to offer a thumbs up to his friends, he smiled. “So, these are dungeon monsters?”

  “No, these are just monsters that tend to gather near dungeon entrances,” Kel replied as he put his shield on his back and brushed the dust from his clothes. “Monsters aren’t uncommon in caves, but to see so many in one place all but guarantees the entrance of a dungeon is very near.”

  “Are they cultivators too?”

  “No, not at all!” Kel chuckled. “That would be a problem, indeed. Monsters, and many creatures for that matter, are drawn to any source of energy. Creatures of the wild naturally absorb and grow stronger in areas rich with energy.”

  “Why don’t humans do that too?” Micro asked. “Standing in a cave sounds easier than cultivating.”

  “The effects would be… chaotic,” Kel replied thoughtfully. “There are those among the mundane who live in places rich with wild energies, but the effects on their mind, body, and soul are most often regrettable.”

  “It’s a dangerous, and most foolish way to live,” Den added. “To live like a beast is to become a beast, driven by instinct and desire.”

  “Okay, I’ll avoid doing that,” Micro replied. Though he didn’t fully understand their reasoning, he understood their serious tone.

  “Very good.” Kel smiled while wiping some monster blood from his shield. “Now, can you see the entrance yet, Tae?”

  “Yes, young master,” Tae replied with a quick nod. “It’s behind that wall, there.”

  She pointed at the rocky wall of the cave, but Micro couldn’t see anything there but rocks. He looked at Kel, expecting him to comment on the missing dungeon, but Kel walked over to the place she was pointing at and smiled.

  “Well done, Tae,” Kel praised her. “It would have taken me months to find this alone.”

  “Your words are wasted on me.” Tae spoke humbly, bowing her head to Kel.

  “This will certainly take some time though,” Kel mumbled as he began to tap the rocky wall with his knuckles. “I didn’t expect it to be this well hidden.”

  “The dungeon is in the rocks?” Micro finally asked, hoping his question wouldn’t offend anyone.

  “Yes, and it may be buried quite deeply behind this wall,” Kel replied. “This is manageable though. I’ve heard of dungeons with entrances that appear deep beneath the sea floor. Those are legends, of course, but nothing is impossible, right?”

  Den and the other two men stepped forward at once to inspect the rock, and nodded to each other. Kel’s eyes filled with excitement as he became more focused on the wall in front of them.

  “Please rest, young master,” one of the men said. “Allow us to remove this obstacle from your path.”

  Kel was about to voice his objection to the idea when he noticed Tae shaking her head subtly with a stern expression.

  “Very well,” he conceded. “I’ll leave the excavation to you this time.”

  “Excavation?” Micro asked in surprise. “They don’t have any tools or machines.”

  Kel smiled and guided Micro away from the site of the dungeon’s hidden gate, gesturing for him to take a seat atop a flat rock. The two sat facing each other, and Micro mimicked the crossed legged posture of Kel.

  “My friends will have little trouble dealing with some rocks,” Kel explained. “It is their duty, after all.”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Their duty?”

  “I am the heir to a sect, and they are my attendants. It would be discourteous to usurp their duties myself, given their families’ generations of loyal service to my own.” Kel wore a bitter expression, glancing back at the hardworking friends behind him. “But I shouldn’t complain. Let us take this chance to practice shielding yourself with an aura of your own making. How are you feeling now?”

  “I feel the same,” Micro replied. “Not great…”

  “Then tell me, please,” Kel began with an instructor’s tone. “What stands in the way of you controlling the energy contained within your own core?”

  “Well…” Micro thought about it for a moment. “I can catch the light that leaks out of my core, but when I put it on my body, It just flies away.”

  “Fascinating…” Kel stroked his chin with an amused expression. “It’s the first time I’ve heard of such an issue. You see, most beginners can barely gather enough energy to spread across a small part of themselves, and most of the time, it is simply reabsorbed, flowing back into their core like rainwater toward a lake. But you, my interesting young friend, have an excess of energy, and it seems very unstable…”

  “What should I do?” Micro pleaded, wishing to rid himself of the sick feeling energy gave him.

  “There is a similar technique I could show you,” Kel whispered after looking over his shoulder, confirming that nobody else was listening to their conversation. “Outsiders would never be permitted to learn it, but…”

  “I’d hate to impose,” Micro replied. “But if you wouldn’t mind—”

  “I think you should know,” Kel whispered intensely. “It’s an advanced technique compared to the one I showed you before, but it should help. Close your eyes and concentrate, quickly. Once you’ve achieved a state of—”

  Kel was once again surprised at the speed with which Micro was able to enter such a deep meditative state. Micro’s body was completely motionless, his heart slowed, his breathing nearly imperceptible, and his aura was expanding to touch everything within a few paces of him. Kel was suddenly motivated to join Micro, so he took a deep breath and mirrored Micro’s motionless state.

  Micro was looking around the empty space where his body didn’t exactly feel like it was there, when he suddenly noticed the ghostly image of Kel appear in front of him.

  “Oh, you’re here!” Micro greeted him. “I’m sorry it’s so dark in here, but my headlights…”

  “So it is completely dark in your eyes?” Kel asked with a curious look. “It’s almost refreshing to hear you still have things to learn.”

  “You can see in this darkness without headlights?”

  “It is not light that illuminates the immaterial, but our own eyes,” Kel explained. “Though to be clear, I am still unable to grasp the entirety of the spiritual realm. That is difficult without first mastering the Spirit Vision Skill. In any case, remember why we are here.”

  “So your eyes… are the headlights…?” Micro mumbled in confusion.

  “Focus, Micro.”

  “Sorry, Kel.”

  “Listen carefully,” Kel continued with an urgent tone. “Before, you were simply coating yourself with energy. This is a rudimentary technique for those with much less energy than you. However, mysterious as you are, the energy your core struggles to contain is far too unruly for a novice cultivator to stabilize.”

  “So what do I do?”

  “Rather than coat your body from the outside, like applying a coat of paint, you must allow the energy to flow out of you.”

  “It needs to flow out of my body?” Micro tilted his head. “Like exhaust?”

  “Umm…” Kel raised an eyebrow in reply. “More like sweat.”

  “Ah…” Micro grumbled in disappointment. “Another thing I don’t really understand yet…”

  “What aspect of the technique do you not fully grasp?” Kel asked. “I understand that it is difficult to manage one’s flow of energy, especially for a novice jade core practitioner…”

  “Sweating,” Micro clarified with a deep sigh. “Still new to that.”

  “Sw—Sweating…?” Kel stuttered. “Do you not… do you not understand sweating?”

  “Well, I’ve done it a few times since arriving, and it feels terrible and refreshing at the same time…” Micro complained. “What even is it?”

  “Sweating was not a common occurrence where you lived before?”

  “Condensation was more of a problem for me, but other than that…” Micro thought deeply about the matter of sweat for a while.

  Kel stepped back to allow the confused Micro to come to terms with the problem. Kel was unsure of how to proceed with the lesson given Micro’s unrelatable experiences.

  “Micro…” Kel eventually spoke, clapping his hands once with enthusiasm. “How about this? Imagine a fire burning in a metal oven. Can you picture that?”

  “A fire in an oven? I’ve seen fire before!” Micro thought about it for a moment, then nodded happily. “Okay, now what?”

  “Imagine sealing the chimney shut, so no heat could escape,” Kel continued. “All the heat that was escaping out of the chimney would no longer be able to do so. Where would all of that heat go?”

  “The fire would go out right away…” Micro frowned. “Right?”

  “Imagine it’s a special fire!” Kel persisted. “A fire that doesn’t go out doesn’t seem less improbable than anything you are capable of. Where would the heat that was escaping freely go if you sealed the chimney?”

  “Okay the. Well, it would go…” Micro thought aloud, then his eyes widened and his mouth formed a big smile. “It would radiate outwards!”

  “Yes, it would—” Kel squinted his eyes. “Wait, it would do what?”

  “Just like a radiator!” Micro shouted. “But what about the pump? No, wait, I have a heart now. That would work. For the fluid… Aha! Blood! Then I just have to…”

  “The heart is relevant in some techniques, but…” Kel watched with a look of great concern as Micro began speaking in terms that made little to no sense to him, but was slightly relieved to see the boy’s genuine smile. “Well, at least he’s enjoying the process of learn—”

  “Just a little more there…” Micro mumbled to himself as his energy surged.

  Some of Kel’s attendants glanced back to see Micro covered in a dense layer of energy, flowing out of him fiercely and steadily. From where they were standing, they were unable to see the look of shock on Kel’s face.

  “It worked!” Micro then shouted, his own voice drowned out by the roaring aura coating him. “I didn’t realize humans were so much like trucks!”

  “Congratulations…” Kel’s concentration finally broke, and he awoke in the cave across the boy who was still locked in a trance despite the aura pouring out of him. “Are you really human…?”

  “Me?” Micro tilted his head and frowned. “No, I’m not.”