When Cale returned, he immediately put the plate of sandwiches down that he got before he left the cafeteria and hopped on the tatami. The green triangle was still floating there, but Cale ignored it for now. It was time to get back to basics.


    He plucked a handful of Nevani mana crystals from his pouch and placed them in his palm as he sat down cross-legged. It was time to cultivate.


    Cale noticed immediately that it was more difficult now. He had thought it would get easier overtime, just the time required would grow. But after the jump to upper Body Tempering, he noticed a stark difference.


    It wasn’t like working with the mana was harder. On the contrary, the Nevani Mana was pure and smooth, easy to work with. But it felt like he was trying to push an apple through a needle’s eye. He breathed and controlled the mana, but when he wanted to infuse his body with it, it simply wouldn’t receive so easily. Cale kept pushing, and his body took some of the mana, but it was like drinking from a rapid with a straw.


    Not to mention the strain that it took to keep the mana controlled.


    Cale did not despair. He adapted. He made things easier for himself, and let Aura have some of the mana for her sigils. Now he had less mana to work with. And so he focused on really getting full use out of it.


    “The problem is your horrid inefficiency,” Aura finally said. “Normally, a cultivator would upgrade their mana attuners, but you already have me, and I am as good as they come.”


    “So what gives, o’ magnificent one?” Cale said and crossed his arms.


    “Finally! I have been waiting for you to give me the proper respect and— wait, that was sarcasm!”


    “Keen as ever,” Cale said and smirked.


    “Hmph. Do you want my help or not?”


    “Of course I do.”


    “You are rushing. You jump to shove the mana into your being at the very first second its possible. You need to work with the mana longer.”


    “Oh…” Cale said. “Like let it cook? Simmer?”


    “Why are you using food metaphors?” Aura asked and sighed. “You just ate.”


    “I like food,” Cale said distractedly, looking at the mana crystals in his hand. He dropped them all on the tatami except one. He sat down and sucked it in.


    Cale breathed with the mana. Synchronized with it, like Aura had taught. He felt the moment it settled and attuned to him. It started circling around in his solar plexus as a mass of something not quite liquid, not quite gaseous. For all intents and purposes Cale had figured the mana was ‘cooked’.


    But this time he kept focusing on it. Kept breathing with it. Sometimes pushing it to circle faster, sometimes slower. He played with it. Got intimate with it. And gradually, the mana started to change. It became more liquid than gas. It felt cooler, smoother. Somehow more like him.


    Cale understood.


    “I’ve been doing this all wrong,” he said quietly.


    Aura didn’t answer. She clearly wanted for Cale to keep focusing. But Cale could feel the suppressed remarks.


    “Obviously,” She quickly said. “Now hush. Keep going.”


    The mana was getting denser, more packed.  He was already adept at condensing the initial gaseous form into liquid. Some stray parts of the liquid, were even getting a sludge-like form, but whenever Cale tried to focus on that, it backfired. Sludge was still beyond him.


    But he was clearly improving. The circle in which the mana moved got smaller and smaller with each breath, each moment of singular focus. What had first been the size of a dinner plate, was now the size of a wedding ring. Cale knew intuitively that this was not the ultimate form. He knew he could condense the mana into a bead. A drop. And beyond that something even more dense. Crystallize it.


    From gas to liquid. From Liquid to sludge. From sludge to solid. From solid to crystal. I’m starting to see it now.


    But right now even sludge was beyond him. He was already straining at the end of his ability to focus. If he pushed further, he feared he would squander what he had gained. So he relaxed, exhaled and gently guided the liquid mana into his physical body.


    The effect was immediate. Invigoration. What grogginess he had left was gone, and his mind was clear, his body taut, strong, agile, ready. No, he didn’t quite advance, but he had gotten a sizeable chunk closer to the next stage.


    “How far am I from Body Tempering stage five?”


    “My, you are eager,” Aura said, but Cale could hear she was pleased. “I did not expect you to be able to attune the mana in such an advanced manner. This brought you 18% of the way.”


    “Nice!” Cale said and pumped a fist to himself, squeezing the now emptied crystal. He knew that these levels of advancement were something that kids half his age struggled with, but it still felt good to take such a leap forward. Every little bit counted.


    He plucked another crystal from the pile on the mat and sat back in a proper cross-legged position. “Alright. Now, let’s do it again.”


    *


    Several hours passed, and Cale worked with the mana, determined to bring his efficiency up to speed. He was now two times as efficient as he had been after inhaling murderbot mana the first time in those ruins he had woken up. During the last hour, Aura admonished him for letting his concentration slip and attune with suboptimal efficiency. Cale kept pushing just a little bit more, before he had to admit that Aura had a point. The sheer mental effort it took to single-mindedly concentrate on the mana was causing mounting fatigue. But he was now at 75% along the way from Body Tempering stage four to five.


    Cale took a short nap and ate three sandwiches.


    Then it was time to work on the ghost step technique.


    Cale had no concept of time. He had figured it had been lunch hour when he had met Fiara in the cafeteria. If that was true, it was evening. Cale decided it didn’t really matter. He would work until he couldn’t anymore.


    The accrued fatigue from cultivation did affect his technique drills. Sometimes Cale found himself going through the motions, but every time that happened, he got second wind and focused harder. This ebb and flow continued, with two short rests between constant, focused work, until Cale simply found himself ripping at the seams.


    “That’s enough,” Aura finally said.


    “No…” Cale muttered. I can still do it once, maybe twice.


    “That’s enough, Cale,” Aura said. “I swear we would king and queen of the universe by now, if you just listened to me.”


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


    “I do listen,” Cale protested as he reached for a bottle of orange juice next to the empty sandwich plate.


    “Very selectively,” Aura huffed. “I have to admit that your fortitude is beyond impressive. I can see why the Nevani chose you, but this is bordering on the side of manic. You need to rest, or you will work yourself to a knob. And what use will you be to me then?”


    There were no words to describe how sweet the orange juice tasted as Cale slammed it down his gullet. He wiped his mouth, leaned against the wall and looked at his trembling hands pensively.


    “Why do you think I was chosen?” Cale asked.


    “I wish I knew,” Aura said in frustration. “I have all the data inside me. But it is locked away and I cannot even begin to guess where the key is.”


    “You think that’s why I work this hard..?” Cale asked quietly.


    Aura was silent for a while. When she answered, there was no glib or pomp. Her voice was soft, gentle even. “Your words, not mine.”


    “It’s hard,” Cale said. “Not knowing who you are and why you exist. When I train I can forget that. When I’m trying to survive in this crazy world, I forget that. I forget the pain of loneliness.”


    “There’s worse ways to distract yourself.”


    “I’m sure,” Cale said and nodded to himself. He looked at his hands, as if they held the answer. “I need to find out who I am. I need to get stronger, so I can have agency over my life, and search for the answers.”


    “The Nevani ruins are numerous in this world. Even this giant floating city is a Nevani artifact. Maybe they left notes, fragments, secrets. Something for us to find, so we can learn more.”


    “I’ll ask Darius about it,” Cale said. “I’ll try to steer my career in Gray Lotus so that I can delve these ruins with you. We’ll find out who we are together.”


    “I’d like that,” Aura said, gaining back her haughty tone. “I am not as pained as you about this. I just exist to provide functions, and am moderately content with that. Of course I am also a paragon of excellence, and I suppose my primary objective would be to show the world my peerlessness.”


    Cale laughed. It also made the pain go away. Maybe he wasn’t as alone after all. No matter what would happen, he would have Aura. He got up and straightened his dress shirt. Despite his best efforts, it was barely crinkled.


    “Either way, we need to get stronger.”


    *


    Three days passed like this. Cale trained. He reached Body Tempering stage five, which he celebrated with two ham and cheese sandwiches stacked upon each other to form a makeshift cake.


    After his celebration, Cale tested his new abilities. While the biggest leap in power had happened when he advanced from Lower to Middle Body Tempering, even a single level of advancement was significant. The training dojo had approximately forty feet of tatami on the floor. It took Cale six lunging leaps to reach from one end to the other. Then he hopped from one end to the other with a one-handed hand-stand. That did take some juice out of him, but boy was it satisfying. His speed, strength, balance and other physical attributes were about double that of an elite athlete on earth.


    And these are just the first steps…


    Cale kept working. He trained his cultivation, sharpened his ability to attune to the mana, which strained his concentration. He was reaching 36% efficiency, according to Aura. He trained with the Ghost step, to a point it was almost useful in battle. He could now do it when he was given a good heads up and he was standing absolutely still. But he resolved to keep working on it.


    He hadn’t seen Darius, but frankly Cale didn’t miss him. He wanted to focus and Fiara and Aura were much better company. However, someone did consistently leave a trolley of food behind the dojo door every once in a while, and usually there were pancakes. How much of this was Fiara and how much was Darius remained a mystery, but the pancakes tasted like somebody gave a damn, which was no small thing in this world.


    Talking with Fiara and enjoying the absolutely decadent food of the cafeteria was always the highlight of Cale’s mornings. Although it seemed like he was training until the dead hours of the night and waking up at noon, but hey it worked for him.


    It was on the fourth morning of his high intensity training stint when he sat down with Fiara balancing three mountains of food when Cale heard the news.


    “We are leaving for Blacksteel Citadel soon,” Fiara said without lifting her gaze from the managlass tablet, head leaning against a fist.


    “Sounds important,” Cale said between bites. “What’s that?”


    “Wait, you don’t… Darius didn’t— of course he didn’t…”


    “I haven’t seen Darius in three days,” Cale said.


    “Maybe he thinks you’re not so special after all,” Fiara said, tapping her managlass pad.


    Cale shrugged. “Maybe. But I still have thirty days to prove him wrong.”


    Fiara stopped tapping her pad and looked at Cale under her brows. A sharp evaluating look. Cale only smiled back and reached for her coffee cup. She slapped his wrist.


    “Hey!” Cale said.


    “I got you your own,” she said and pushed a cup at him.


    Cale grinned. “Didn’t know I was living rent free in your head.”


    Fiara scoffed. “You’re so damn sure of yourself all the time.”


    Cale tilted his head. “No I’m not.”


    Fiara gave him a pointed look. Cale laughed.


    “Okay that ironically did sound pretty self-assured. But it’s not certainty. It’s not letting doubt control me.”


    “Easy for you to say,” Fiara muttered. “Not all of us have a True Integra.”


    “I do rely on Aura,” Cale said and smiled to himself. “But that’s because I know I need to play to my advantages or I’m as good as dead. Lesson from Darius.”


    “Such a dutiful student you are,” Fiara said mockingly. “His lessons only seem to work when the student has piles of raw talent.”


    Cale leaned back and put a croissant down. He just watched Fiara, trying to figure out what she just said. She cast a baleful look at him and went back to her managlass pad. Her shoulders were tense, her fingers tight on the edges of her pad.


    She’s bitter.


    “Why did you choose to become a secretary?” Cale asked.


    Fiara gave him a shitty, mirthless smile. “What? Looking for career advice?”


    “You don’t strike me as someone who is content pushing paper.”


    Fiara fixed her gaze on Cale and watched him silently before answering. “It’s called being realistic. Not all of us want the cultivator rat race. Most cultivators get ground down, and it isn’t pretty. It’s just common sense for some of us to quit if we aren’t good enough. What makes you think you’re any different?”


    “I’m just built different, bro,” Cale said and leaned back, hands behind his head.


    “Wh— what does that even mean?” Fiara asked and snorted.


    Cale couldn’t keep a straight face. He burst out a chuckle. “Sorry. Just a stupid joke.”


    “You seem to be good at those,” Fiara said. “Some might call that deflection.”


    “You seem to be very good at social games,” Cale said and took an innocent sip of coffee. “I try to learn from the best. Deflection is your primary tactic.”


    “Did Darius pick you just to punish me?” Fiara said despondently.


    “Punish you for what?” Cale asked.


    Fiara cocked an eyebrow. “You never told me why you think you’ll be able to make it.”


    “Never said I would,” Cale said. “I just don’t see other options than to try.”


    “You always have options,” Fiara said.


    “Yeah?” Cale said, looking at Fiara pointedly. “How’s that working out for you?”


    “Poorly, as I am suffering a conversation with you,” Fiara said.


    “Dodging questions like a champ,” Cale said.


    “You or me?” Fiara said.


    “You more than me.”


    “Answer mine, and maybe I’ll stop.”


    Cale watched her and considered his answer.


    “When I woke up in this world, I was immediately attacked.” Cale exhaled, rolling the cup between his hands. “Can you imagine what it’s like if your first memory is running for your life?”


    His grip on the cup tightened. “Fear, helplessness, confusion, loneliness? Those were my first feelings. So I made a choice.”


    He looked at her, steady. “Aura showed me I can fight. That I can improve myself. I chose to do that. So that I’ll never have to feel that way again. How’s that for a rat race?”


    “You do realize that if you lose at this you die?” Fiara said quietly.


    “Then I’ll die,” Cale said. “But I won’t have to do it while cowering in despair. Why are you trying to ruin breakfast?”


    “It’s lunch,” Fiara said curtly. “And I think you’re full of shit.”


    Cale shrugged and took a bite of a sandwich. “And I think you gave up on a dream to become a secretary.”


    Fiara shot up from her chair, so fast it screeched and fell down. Her upper lip curled and she started Cale down with a look that could cut steel.


    “You don’t know anything,” she said as she started collecting her things.


    “Then tell me,” Cale said, placing a hand on one of her tablets.


    She grabbed his wrist forcefully and slammed it on the table. “Screw. You.”


    Before Cale could say anything else, Darius walked on them, holding a croissant and a coffee. “Oh, good you’re both here. We are to leave in thirty minutes. Blacksteel Citadel calling.”