《City States (Working title)》 Revision in the works I''m sorry for the absence, I was rebuilding my world, cultivation system, races, characters, and frankly, y''all do not give feedback. I hope that you follow my story as I again write the first draft. Again I''m posting here to hear what you think and what I need to improve. I don''t need praise here, but it is appreciated, I need constructive criticism as you, yes the person reading this now, are going to be my target audience and if you are not satisfied, how can I make it as a writer?This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Last thing. Thank you for the silent support and it gives me joy that despite it tackling the gender norms of a society, you still chose to read it. I hope you continue to join me on this journey. Stay safe and be well. About the world (Time and the school) Cultivation Systems in the student body Spoiler: Spoiler In this part, I will tell you the classification of a student in relation to his/her cultivation, because the this is a cultivation school story for now, at least the first arc happens in school, to pass a grade or to go to a higher classification of students one must be in a certain stage in cultivation The body tempering realm/stage Spoiler: Spoiler The students must step into this realm and train in this realm. I will offer no more explaination as that would be in the story. Freshmen are in this stage or mortals The mind cleansing realm/stage Spoiler: Spoiler A student beomes a sophomore when he/she reaches this realm. leaving this realm will make them juniorsUnauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The awakening realm/stage Spoiler: Spoiler This realm is for the juniors and she/he must be in this stage to be called a true cultivator. This is the first gate between the serious cultivators and those that cannot become more than superhuman individuals The manifestation realm/stage Spoiler: Spoiler Seniors of the Abeseth Academy for the Gifted are in this realm. saying what they can do spoils what one can and cannot do in the previous realms. there is no more need to pass another realm to graduate, seniors can stay or leave but must contribute to the academy in this stage to stay Time keeping The months are the same but weeks are not. Noone is the start of the month. the 1st of january is called the noone of January Mids are 12 days after the noones. the noone of January is the 13th Kalends are 10 days after mids. the kalend of january is the 23rd The days are described as the days before the next noone, mids or kalends. January 10th is 3 days before the mid of january For anyone wondering the year is the third era, year 521 as of chapter 1 Prelude 1 Lyle Welfer followed the signs to the cafeteria of the Abeseth academy for the gifted. The first part of the enrollment had just ended for him and he wanted to eat food and sleep. The last test was easy, Lyle just had to put his hand on some weird stone that produced a number and was told that he passed. What was exhausting was the time it took for the test to finally be over. Lyle and the other applicants had waited at the open field just beyond the entrance of the academy for an hour. There was no food and drinks available. Lyle and the other applicants were allowed to the courtyard after the first afternoon bell had rung. He saw a grassy field with a few students here and there but no teacher or someone that looked like one. Lyle just assumed that the start would be at the second afternoon bell, even though the invitation said that the test would start at the first afternoon bell.. At the second afternoon bell, aspiring students were leaving. Lyle didn''t even notice them, busy chatting with his friends. By the third bell he and his friends had become quiet, some of them even leaving. Lyle wanted to leave, this was the first day of testing and the test would happen everyday for a week so he could try again tomorrow. Lyle looked at his satchel and scanned the surroundings once more. Below the shade of one of the trees, a woman dressed in a servant uniform stood. Lyle realized that other servants were surrounding them, with the only place without was the place going to the entrance. They were dressed as cleaners and utility workers for the school so no one really paid them any attention besides the few kids that shouted at them or threw tantrums who then promptly left the school. Those kids were escorted by the staff after they blew off their steam. Lyle thought that he might as well talk to them and ask when the test will begin and so he did. Lyle started walking towards the lady. "Hey, I''ll just ask the lady over there when the test would start." Ariel, one of his friends, looked towards his friends awkwardly. "You''re just gonna be escorted out like the rest of those brats from earlier. They may even stop you from taking the exam. Let''s just wait." That made Lyle stop and look at his remaining friends. "Let him do what he wants. It''s not like this is the only school in the city." Henry said. With that the rest of his friends shrugged and let him continue. While true, the Abeseth Academy for the Gifted was the best school to learn cultivation. Ten known core formation experts started from this academy, the most notable being the sword saint, Arthur Hale Lyle waved at his friends and began walking once more. He observed the woman, noticing that she was only a few years older than him, maybe 16 or 17 years old. When he reached her, Lyle waited for the cleaner to look at him before speaking. When she didn''t, Lyle took initiative. "Ma''am, may I ask you a few questions?" Lyle asked. She finally looked at him, her honey colored eyes meeting his very dark brown. He looked at her face properly and noticed that it had no easily observable flaws, no pimples or pimple scars, no blemishes and her skin looked smooth. "Greetings young master. I would be happy to answer any queries you may have." The servant bowed. "Right. Hey when does the test start?" Lyle decided to get to the point. He had enough of waiting. "I believe it started two hours ago young master." The servant said still bowed. "What? Why didn''t anyone tell us? And lift your head, I can''t see your face." The test had already started? Was this the test? Lyle''s mind swirled with the possibilities of the test. He read about this of course. In the stories, heroes often pass hidden tests just by being themselves or thinking things through. It seems the stories his father told him held some truth. The woman, Lyle wasn''t sure if she was a servant anymore, looked at him, no emotion discernible on her face. "This is a test of patience and initiative. Also a test of respect to an extent. If people were told to wait, they will because there is a reward at the end but if they''re made to wait without warning, people will doubt if there was even a reward for waiting." "Then what about the people before me? Why didn''t you answer them? They showed courage in talking to you, just like me."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The lady''s lips turned upwards, her face now looking more welcoming, unlike the bored but curious face she had a moment ago. "Did they come to the staff to ask questions or did they come just to throw a tantrum?" It seemed like the lady was warming up to Lyle. Was he throwing a tantrum? No, but was she thinking that he was? maybe. Lyle began to backpedal. "Miss, I assure you that I am not throwing a tantrum. I was merely tired of wai- um¡­ yes I was merely curious why such an esteemed school would let its future students wait. Yes that''s what I went to you." The lady raised an eyebrow, amusement clear on her face. "This is the other part of the test, initiative. Whatever your reason was, you were brave enough to do what others feared. You came here to ask even if it meant that you might not pass. And for that you passed the second test." Lyle fell silent at that and looked back. Like the other kids, he didn''t really pay attention to the people that gathered around them. He just assumed that they were bored or curious. People probably just assumed that talking to the staff would lead to them being escorted outside. No one really thought about it. With that. Lyle could tell his friends and they could all pass the second test. But alas fate was not kind. What the black haired lady said next dashed his hopes of all of them passing the second test. "You may choose an action here now. Either you go back and tell the other applicants about the hidden test and how to pass it or you could not and follow me to the proper testing site. You will not be rewarded if you choose the first option. If you approach any of the proctors they would not respond to you or acknowledge you. If, however, you choose to go to the testing site, you will be rewarded depending on how early you passed the test. Choose wisely young master." Lyle knew the correct answer and faced the lady with a determined face. "They didn''t pass the test, I did, so why should they get rewarded? I would like it if you bring me to the testing site please." "Very well young master." The not-servant walked towards the gate and Lyle followed. Lyle followed the lady with shaky steps towards the gates of the school. He slowed his steps, thinking about the test once more. Is this another test? Did he actually fail by saying that he wanted to go alone? Lyle ultimately decided to follow the lady and see where this goes, if he¡¯s led to the gate, he¡¯ll complain. Cultivators, which Lyle was pretty sure this lady was, were often eccentric and unpredictable. One cultivator might give you a beating for insulting their enemies or they might reward you for disrespecting them. Lyle stayed behind the lady so as to not lose sight of her. The woman looked back and smiled, suddenly swerving to the right and into a building that was fairly unnoticeable. It was a large hall, in the stage stood a clear ball the size of Lyle''s head. Behind it was an old man that looked like he was a 30 year old mortal. He had crows feet from smiling and laugh lines in his face. He was wearing a nondescript robe but still stood out. There was no one here besides the three. "Why is this place empty?" Lyle asked aloud. The man on the stage smiled at Lyle at that question. "Congratulations young master. It would seem that you are 23rd to pass the second test. This will reflect well on your final assessment at the end of the enrollment so be proud. ¡°As for why there''s only the three of us, it''s because the others are already in the cafeteria talking amongst themselves. Now come up here and let''s begin the third and final test of the day so you can rest and eat some decadent food prepared by the academy''s best cooks." Lyle realized that he was staring. "Uhh... Thank you elder for the opportunity." Lyle walked towards the stage and performed a quick bow towards the elder. He heard the door opening and quickly looked at the now empty space that the woman had been before. The elder chuckled. "Now now, no need to be so formal. I get that enough from old people. You kids should behave as kids! Laughing, being hot headed and making friends and enemies along the way. My name is Gregory Kuhn but you can call me Greg or mr Greg if you want to be formal." Lyle stared once more. This was not how he imagined an elder to act. They were supposed to be serious and intimidating, not friendly and kind! The etiquette lessons he got from his tutors all said that he should still act politely but they also said to follow the words of cultivators, lest you gain their ire, whatever ire means. So he went with his gut. Maybe hunger and tiredness also played a part but Lyle would never admit that. "Um, sure el- er, mr. Greg. Lyle Welfer. So what do I do to pass this test?" "Oh nothing too serious, just prick your finger and touch the crystal." For the third time in as many minutes, Lyle stared once more. This has got to be a joke, right? The first test was hard, the second test was harder and now he just wanted a bloody finger on a crystal ball. Cultivators really are eccentric people. Deciding that thinking too much about it would do him no good, Lyle retrieved a pocket knife from his satchel and pricked his index finger. He gingerly placed his palm on the surface of the crystal. The ball glowed brightly and Greg placed a piece of paper in front of him. "This method of testing one''s talent is quite simple and ingenious you see." Greg started speaking, his voice soothing, it reminded Lyle of the scholars that taught him the best. It was a voice wanting to teach. "The crystal ball reacts with the talent you possess, what talent means in this case is the raw amount of qi in your body right now. And the brighter the ball glows, the more raw qi you possess and thus talent. "The paper is the really genius part. Here I have papers made from the see through leaf. If I can see light pass through one sheet, then you pass the third trial. But I can stack these papers you see. The more papres I stack until I am unable to see through the paper, the higher your score will become." "Aren''t cultivators rich or something, especially the cultivators from the most successful academy? This looks quite simple and cheap." Lyle blurted out, forgetting that he was not in one of the discussions with his tutors. Seeing the look of schock in his face, mr. Greg laughed. "True, but are you willing to spend money on an expensive gadet when a cheaper one will do just as well?" Mr. Greg stacked two pieces of paper together and looked at it in front of the orb once more "I guess not." "Then you got your answer." When mr. Greg got to three stacks he stopped and made a thinking noise. "Hmm, above average talent. You are doing quite well in this enrollment so far, young Lyle. Keep it up and you might get a good reward when this is over. Now off you go, somebody is already waiting at the door." Mr. Greg placed his hand on Lyle''s back and gently guided him towards different door from the one he entered. When it opened up, Lyle saw a hallway with signs at the side that all pointed in a single direction. Below the arrow was the word Cafeteria. "Follow the signs until you reach the cafeteira. I have high hopes for you Lyle, I wish you the best in this enrollment." Lyle did not forget his manners this time and bowed just like he was taught. "Thank you for your guidance and encouragement mr. Greg. I hope I could live up to them." "A last advice before you go: question those who do not want to be and find your own path to immortality." Mr. Greg patted Lyle''s head before going back to the testing hall. Prelude 2 Lyle entered the cafeteria while thinking about the words of mr. Greg. The first one made some sense but weren''t schools made so that you could tread the paths travelled before. The safe and easiest way to becoming a cultivator. So why did mr. Greg said something to the contrary? The first advice was just plain nonsense, that was just a quick way to trouble, not speaking at first hand experience or anything, Lyle though. The smell hit him like a ton of bricks. The mixture of strong and mild scents made for a heavenly smell. Lyle¡¯s stomach grumbled so he went for the food counter on the side of the cafeteria. He could see various dishes arrayed in front of him in a long table, from common meat dishes like roast chicken, braised pork and beef stew to more exotic dishes. Lyle continued to stare at the duck hanging from a stand and wondered how delicious it would be. He didn''t know what to pick so Lyle, ever the graceful person that he is, stared for the fourth time that day. "What do you want?" A large man suddenly appeared in front of Lyle. He scratched his belly through his apron and looked at Lyle with eyes akin to those of a dead fish, sizing him up from head to toe. ¡°You look like an orphan child let to starve for a week only to find a set of well fitting clothes before coming here.¡± The words of the cook stung Lyle. He looked at his skinny but still normally sized body. "I¡¯m not that thin. Well what do you eat when you look like someone starving" Lyle asked hoping to get a great meal out of this selection. The man''s face changed from slightly unwelcoming to neutral. "A lot of people go for the meat dishes, but if you ask me the vegetables here are better made than what you''re used to, even those top chefs in the city makes vegetables look like side dishes. I say go for the vegetables and the meat so you get a balanced meal too. You need every morsel you can get to bulk your body up." Sounds like a good idea to him. "Alright, some vegetables and some meat please! But more meat than vegetables." The man sighed and took a plate from under the table. He placed meat first in, filling the plate ?s of the way before serving the vegetables. Mixed veggies with different cuts of meat was handed to Lyle and he took it to find seats. He finally noticed that other people were here. The quietness of the place made him assume that there were only two of them in the place. Lyle looked around to find a seat. The place was big, so big that even had he placed four chairs on top of each other and then jumped, he still wouldn¡¯t reach the ceiling. Lyle walked to the nearest table available to him, which to him still took a few steps. The place looked able to seat close to 300 people comfortably, 400 at max capacity. There were two other kids besides Lyle. He shrugged and went to an unoccupied table and sat down. Not long after Lyle began eating, he noticed that a kid standing at the food counter, gawking at the dishes like he had earlier. The boy was just barely able to reach the large man¡¯s stomach when he approached and the man looked less excited to see him than when Lyle approached him. It¡¯s probably the clothes and his size. The way that he moved was like all other street urchins, and servants to an extent, like they want not to be seen. The boy sat at an empty table to the left of Lyle''s. As he finished eating he observed the boy with what he thought was subtlety, stealing glances when he thought the boy wasn¡¯t looking. He observed that while the other boy had well trimmed nails and clean hands and his clothes, although faded had no visible stains. He was also fairly handsome, his face was a little girly but that was what some people preferred. Lyle blushed as he realized that he had been looking at the boy¡¯s face for too long. Not wanting to waste time waiting, Lyle gathered his courage and walked towards the boy. As he approached the boy looked in his direction and froze. His body suddenly tensed, as if preparing to escape and quickly put his spoon down. Lyle stopped from where he stood.. Lyle raised his hands. "Woah there, just here to say hello. How did you pass the test?" Lyle approached when he saw the boy relaxed slightly. Without looking at Lyle directly, the boy spoke. "I just did, young master." Okay. The boy was not talkative, Lyle thought. But good things come to those who wait, better things come to those who act. Lyle continued talking. ¡°How¡¯d you get here? You need an invitation or pay an examination fee, which isn¡¯t cheap, to take the test. You don¡¯t need to answer of course if you don¡¯t want to.¡± The boy¡¯s face scrunched up in anger. ¡°Does the young master not want me to be here? I¡¯m sorry but I cannot leave even if you insist. I have something I need to do.¡± Lyle shrugged, he faced people like this before and the best way to approach them was to not do that. Lyle raised his hands up in surrender and stood up. ¡°Okay I get it, you don¡¯t want anyone to talk to you. I¡¯ll leave then. Good luck on your quest.¡± Lyle went back to his seat to discover that his plate were gone. He shrugged and went outside, choosing a random direction to exit the cafeteria. As he exited the building, a cool breeze greeted him along with a servant, this time he was sure that the servant was actually a servant. The servant bowed. ¡°Young master, I would lead you to your quarters for the night. You can also ask me anything and I will answer to the best of my abilities.¡± The servant stood straight and looked down, a sign of respect, waiting for Lyle¡¯s reply ¡°Yeah, sure. Lead me to my room. And tell me where I can take a bath and change clothes.¡± ¡°Right this way young master.¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The fifth bell rang when Lyle entered the room that the servant guided him to after going to the bathroom. Feeling fresh and ready to take on the next day, he went into the room to see that there were three beds in the small room. Each bed had a drawer and a letter on top of one. Lyle also noticed that one of the beds had signs of occupation, only two drawers having a key and a small pack. TLyle looked at the windows in the room, one beside the door, showing the open hall and the opposite wall overlooking the city of Abeseth.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Lyle approached the farthest drawer and picked up the letter. Dear applicant, Congratulations on passing the second test! As a reward, you are given a bigger room for your stay during the rest of the enrollment.But that is not all! On the drawer is a package containing things that will aid you in the third test and more. You passing the second test also means that your final score will be higher than the rest, which would translate into a better position in the school sections and you might even get a reward if you place high enough in the entrance exam. Do good and you will be rewarded. The fourth test will start at the eighth morning bell at the testing hall two. Ask for the servants for directions. PS: You can share this to whoever you want with no bearing on your grades but remember that everything has a price. Sincerely, Greg Kuhn Senior Teacher II Master of Application Abeseth Academy for the Gifted Lyle looked at the package, a cloth satchel of average quality and took the materials out. The satchel contained three things: a simplified booklet on the laws of the Abeseth city state concerning the rights and responsibilities of schools and academies that raise cultivators, a strange token with the Abeseth logo on it and at the back was a fourth symbol and lastly a pill jar containing three pills. From the three things that Lyle got from the package, he concluded that the fourth test was some kind of test of knowledge. So he opened the book and started to read. The book, Lyle was surprised to learn, contained no jargon or hard to understand words like the documents his father had in his study. Reading it would still take at least two hours to finish, even with how light the book felt compared to the others Lyle decided to try the pills, he got three so he can just try one and if the effect was not observable he would save it for the test. He opened the bottle and took one pill. Unlike the pills that he used when he was sick, the one he consumed had an immediate effect. As he looked back on what he read, he suddenly understood it. He quickly opened his book and started reading. After reading a few pages and feeling nothing out of sorts he continued reading. As he got the the halfway point, Lyle realized that he didn¡¯t, not once, go back in the pages to reread a sentence or a passage. Lyle suddenly understood what the medicine was for. The sixth bell had rung signalling the start of the evening when Lyle realized that he had finished the book and snapped out of his trance. He stretched and kept the book inside and thought about what happened. He tried to recall the things he read and was amazed that he could recall everything perfectly. He belatedly realized that the pill he took was one of the exports of the school. It was called the memory pill, a very expensive item. It helped the user retain information much faster but the commercial product¡¯s efficiency was much less than that of what he just used. Thinking of the scary efficiency of the one that he used and the potentially addictive properties of the drug, Lyle shuddered. He thought about it for a few more minutes before deciding that he couldn¡¯t really do anything about it and stood up from his bed. He walked out to see that there were more people present now. More applicants. Lyle wondered if any of his friends passed and went to the cafeteria. After losing his way twice and asking directions from a servant the second time, Lyle finally arrived in a crowded cafeteria. He looked for his friends and thankfully found them sitting and talking. He approached them quietly as to surprise them. Ariel noticed him first, her head of black straight hair whipping at the same time of her head as she did a double take. ¡°Lyle!¡± Ariel stood up and quickly waved for Lyle to come closer. ¡°I thought you went home! Did you pass too?¡± Lyle realized that all five of his friends were on the table. ¡°Hey glad you all passed. Looks like they had a secret second test. The way to pass it was to approach the servants that appeared after the second bell.¡± ¡°What?! There was something like that?¡± Lester, a boy of average height, said. He stood up and detracted from his earlier conversation with Henry and the others Lyle looked at Lester. He had short brown hair, muscular and conventionally handsome. Lyle later learned that the boy was also crass, arrogant and boastful but still a nice person overall. Lyle still liked the boy but he can be a bit much sometimes. He liked Ariel and Henry¡¯s personality better. The awkward child growing into her face and she treated everyone nicely, even when others mocked her for helping that one beggar. And Henry was the person Lyle considered the leader of the group, calm and keeps the group from fighting. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us and just left?¡± Lester said, his face getting angry. Lyle decided to tell the partial truth. ¡°Well, it was either I pass to the next test or fail. Anyway, I came to tell you information about the next test. Or at least what I think the next test will be.¡± Still irritated, Lester sat down with his arms crossed, refusing to talk to Lyle. Taylor, the second and the last girl of the group, asked the question that was on the minds of everyone in earshot. ¡°Spill it out. What¡¯s the next test gonna be?¡± Lyle sat down beside Ariel before taking out the book. ¡°As a reward for passing the secret test, I got a bunch of items. This is one of them. It¡¯s a list of laws regarding the academy and schools in general within Abeseth. I think the next test will be a test with papers or just a questioning.¡± The group huddled around the book and looked at the cover. As Lyle pulled out the brown leather bound book, hisfriends instantly lost their interest. Lester snatched the booklet and leafed through its pages. After finding nothing interesting he tossed the book back to the table. ¡°Damn, I hate tests, I¡¯m not good at that.¡± Lester grumbled. ¡°At least we know a few of them. We studied the laws under our tutors when we were kids, We¡¯ll do fine.¡± Edward, the last person in the group said. Lyle and the rest of the group would usually play in the sun when they met but Edward usually just liked to sit in the shade and read. He still played when the group invited him but only when they invited them and not the other group ¡°Of course you studied, dork.¡± Lester said ¡°Wait, you said items, not item, what other things did you get?¡± the question came from Taylor. The group collectively looked at Lyle. He didn¡¯t really want to show the pill so he took out the token. ¡°I also got this. I don¡¯t know what it does but I think this will help with the third test¡± Lester moved to grab it like the booklet, but this time Lyle pulled the coin away. ¡° Ah, ah, ah. This is mine. I got it fair and square.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon dude, you got the book, at least give me the coin. It could be useless.¡± Lester replied ¡°But it also could be his ticket of joining. It¡¯s his Lester, and his to give or take as he wants.¡± Admonished Henry. The others chimed their agreements with Henry making Lester grumble about the unfairness of it all as he sat back down. Lyle thanked the dieties for the hundredth time that Henry was with them, Lyle considered him to be the leader of the group. ¡°Can we borrow it?¡± asked Ariel. ¡°I mean, if you don¡¯t mind. We would totally understand it if you don¡¯t though.¡± Lyle replied immediately. ¡°Sure, It¡¯s all yours.¡± The rest of the evening was spent with one of the group reading while the rest talked about their day and experiences. It turned out that the testing process was the same for them, just will all the remaining applicants there. He also learned that Ariel and Henry both had above average talent, Edward having an excellent talent and Taylor and Lester having an average talent. During their talks, Lester became more distant from the group and kept quiet even at the end. By the eighth bell, the group decided that resting was the best option as they still had a test tomorrow. As they were leaving, Lyle held Ariel back and took one pill form his bottle. He gave it to Ariel. ¡°Take this pill when you¡¯re studying the book, memorizing will be easier. Also, don¡¯t tell anyone , I only have one left and I plan to use it during the test.¡± Ariel quickly thanked Lyle before catching up to the group. They all went to a servant to show them to their quarters while he asked another to show him his, not that he was worried he¡¯d be lost again. Lyle arrived at his room and opened the door to see a person on one of the beds. It was surprisingly the boy from earlier. Lyle watched as the boy from earlier read the book in an achingly slow pace, he decided to try one last time to help the boy. ¡°Hey, angry boy. Try taking a pill, it¡¯ll make you remember better.¡± Lyle didn¡¯t wait for a reply and went to his bed to lie down. The day of standing and tests was taking a toll on him and was making him sleepy after only just the eighth bell. ¡°Thanks.¡± he heard the boy whisper as Lyle laid down on his bed and tried to fall asleep. ¡°No problem angry boy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Irnel¡±. After a few minutes of silence the lid of his eyes started getting heavy. Prelude 3 Lyle could not see his friends nor an empty seat in the sea of applicants in the testing hall 2. Lyle arrived in time, the eighth bell just ringing a few seconds before he arrived. It was not because he had been lost again. He stepped inside and kept vigilance for that free seat. He finally found a seat at the end of the hall. Before he sat he saw that a teacher had appeared to the front of the room. Lyle quickly placed his bag to the side and sat down patiently. The teacher looked at her wrist then looked around the test takers. A few more students arrived before the red-haired woman walked towards the only entrance and shut the door and locked it. The noise made the already barely audible noise disappear completely. ¡°Cultivation is a sink in resources and time.¡± The teacher pointed her hand at the door. ¡°Those who do not recognize this will fail at the path of cultivation. I have marked the people coming in late. Your scores will have a deduction on this test. As for those who didn¡¯t arrive when I closed the door, they are not part of this enrollment process anymore. ¡°This test will be a written one, in front of you is an inkpot, a quill, and a thin brush. Use whatever you like. My assistants will pass on two sets of papers. The first one will be filled with questions and the second one will be filled with circles. Do not write on the paper with the questions. Accident or no will result in disqualification from this and any more enrollments. You have until the eleventh bell to finish the test. If you finish early you can give your papers to me.¡± The door burst open to reveal ten teenagers in the uniform of the academy and began distributing the papers that they were carrying. after they have finished and Lyle got his papers the robe-wearing lady looked at the device in her wrist one more time. ¡±You can begin now.¡± Lyle paced in his room, biting his nails as he waited for the results of the exam to be released. A knock on the door startled him and made him jump out of his thoughts. He moved to the door while disregarding the strewn clothes and knick-knacks scattered around the floor. Lyle calmed his heart by breathing deeply, closing his eyes in the process before opening the door. His father¡¯s stern face met his calm one. Brown eyes met his blue ones. ¡°Boy, for the last time clean your room. It looks like a pigsty.¡± Lyle couldn¡¯t stop the smile coming out of his face. ¡°Dad, a servant will do it. Besides, today is the day, I don¡¯t have the time for that! The results will be coming out at the noon bell.¡± His father nodded. ¡°And by what you told me, you don¡¯t have anything to worry about. You passed the first second and third test with good scores. And I hired tutors for you to learn about our laws.¡± ¡°But what if I fail? I mean I don¡¯t care much about it, my cousins can still be cultivators and I can try again next year but what if I fail?¡± His father¡¯s face changed from a stern face to a happy one, his mouth curving upwards and his eyes gaining a glint in them. ¡°You try again. Maybe in the two other schools or next year. Your life will not be over with one failure.¡± Lyle opened his mouth and froze. A crier was shouting in the streets, it was still indistinct but was getting clearer by the second. Lyle bolted to his window, nearly tripping on a rogue pair of pants before reaching his destination. ¡°The results are out! The Abeseth Academy for the Gifted has posted the results for this year¡¯s enrollment in the school¡¯s board!¡± The crier repeated the same words while running down the streets. Lyle quickly pulled out a copper coin before tossing it to a crier with a ¡®here, thanks¡¯ before he bolted out the room still in his nightwear. The sprint to the school was a long one, but Lyle felt none of it. He passed by various kids that soon joined him in his mad run towards the school. Lyle reached the campus in less than twenty minutes panting. Beside the gate, the entrance was a board with a piece of paper bigger than anything he had ever seen filled with people, kids, and adults pushing each other to read what was written. After regaining his breath, Lyle joined the crowd, pushing his way into the mass of bodies to answer the burning question in his mind at that moment. At the front of the group, Lyle could see two things from people who read the post. One was people who searched for their names and left running, maybe cheering and laughing, and people who searched their names and left walking. Lyle desperately wished that he would leave running. Lyle kept getting pushed back as he tried to go to the front but he was determined to go there, not just to read the damn paper but as a matter of principle. The pushing, clawing and sometimes punching ceased as Lyle finally reached the front. He looked down and saw shaking hands, filled with energy from a hard-won battle. That quickly faded replaced by a steady pulse coursing in his entire body. Lyle couldn¡¯t look up, too scared to look at the paper to find that he didn¡¯t pass. Too scared to know if he was worthy of being a student. Scared to know if he was enough. He was paralyzed, by fear, expectations, and hope. For a solid minute, the sound of the clamoring crowd was drowned by his beating heart and the sight blocked by a piece of paper that was barely visible with his head down low. Lyle looked up. He searched from the bottom. It was numbered 342. In the city of Abeseth numbering in the hundred thousand, 342 could be considered small. An elite and fewer still would become real cultivators. From the bottom, he continued up. And up and up. If he was to be placed in this exam, Lyle was confident he would be at the top. Maybe in the hundreds but it never hurt to be sure. In the 250s he was still confident, in the 150s he was growing worried. In the 100s a sinking feeling came into his gut. He clenched his fist. The list wasn¡¯t finished, and he still held hope. He was good, and in the pit of his stomach, another feeling rose. What if he was at the top? A little voice said, but it was drowned out by the possibility of him not passing at all. At number 50 he was confident that he would not pass. He looked up still. In the number 20, he lost all hope. Like his world was the paper and him alone. Nothing mattered. He looked up still, now disbelieving. He now read the name carefully. Nineteen: Irnel. Eighteen: Kurtis, Seventeen: Helen. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. There he saw it. He blinked. Blinked again. He rubbed his eyes, hard and looked once more. It was true. Lyle walked away, not noticing the pitying looks that he got from the people around him. Lyle didn¡¯t know how he got home, just that he did. The second afternoon bell made him come back to the present and realized that his parents were there staring at him. They had understanding expressions, but Lyle could also see a calm acceptance to their faces as well. As he continued his dead-eyed stare, Lyle¡¯s mother crouched until she was face to face to her. She placed her hands on his face, her blue eyes meeting his. Even in his muddled state, he could still see the warmth in her mother''s eyes. ¡°Listen to me, my beautiful child.¡± Her mother began. ¡°Your worth as a person is not defined bypassing one test. You can become a merchant like us or if you still want to become a cultivator you could-¡± ¡°I ...¡± Lyle said quietly Lyle¡¯s mother suddenly stopped and looked at her husband, concern written on her face. Her husband shared the same expression and crouched together with his wife. He held his son¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s okay, son.¡± ¡°I passed,¡± Lyle said finally. ¡°I was in sixteenth place. I passed with flying colors.¡± Concerned faces turned into shock, then confusion, joy, elation, pride then back to joy. Lyle felt something squeeze him, suddenly his entire body felt weightless, he was in the air, a pair of hands holding him high. And his emotions finally caught up to him. He started laughing, the same laugh he had when Lyle first discovered that he had a brother when he was five years old. He couldn¡¯t stop then his mom and dad joined and they all hugged each other. Then his little brother joined in too, laughing with his family and for his brother¡¯s success. The rest of the day was busy with the preparation for a feast for the night. All of his father¡¯s friends were invited and so were Lyle friends, who didn¡¯t come due to them throwing their celebrations. Lyle was glad to know that all of his close friends passed with him but sad that they didn¡¯t see each other one last time before leaving for the academy in the morning. The celebration lasted until the early morning but Lyle had slept earlier with his father saying that he needed the rest and pack up his belongings. Lyle picked up the pack that contained everything important to him. He hugged his mother, father, and brother one last time before setting off. No words were spoken, all was said the night before. His father stood tall and his mother stood proud. He looked back to his home once more. It''s three floors towering over the other houses beside them and its stone off white color of the base of the first flood made it look regal with the wood of the second and third. He could see through the windows the workers and servants walking along the corridors, busy with their daily routine. The horses were being fed by stable boys, Lyle was tempted to take Spot, his three-year-old horse, but his horse was still too young and not used to being ridden. With a wave to his family, Lyle set off to the school, which was a 40-minute walk from his home. As he traveled to the city he looked around to remember the sights. The academy only lets its students out once a week on Sundays and does not permit unsupervised expeditions. Lyle traveled from the residential district into the market district. Lyle remembered the times he and his friends would play after the fifth bell every day in these streets. They would play with rocks or pretend, Lyle always liked to play the hero but so did all of them. So it would become a free for all of the heroes saving one another. The smell of the food cooking in the streets mixed in with the hawking of wares from various shops and stalls. He passed fancy shops that displayed their wares on their windows and less well to do stalls that only had a few trinkets to sell. The crowded marketplace gave way into the cultivator district. Lyle could immediately see the difference between his house and those of the cultivators. Mansions, buildings at least three stories tall and lawns that spread for at least two meters everywhere. Lyle could make out houses built entirely out of expensive materials, bricks were the cheapest and spiritual wood the most expensive he could discern. Lyle made way for a street cleaner sweeping the streets. Now that he looked, he could see at least three more cleaners in the area compared to the one cleaner that was usually present in his neighborhood. At the center of the cultivator, districts laid the Academy. Lyle met more and more students, either new ones or old ones depending on their uniforms or lack thereof, as he neared the gate. He arrived in front and found himself facing a pair of guards. One of the guards nodded. ¡°G¡¯ day young master, do you have a proof of identity?¡± ¡°Huh, what do I need?¡± The other guard stepped forward and thrust a thumb towards his pair. ¡°Your true full name. Don¡¯t mind him. Terry just wants to sound smart¡± Terry looked at the other guard ¡°A person can get a proof of identity with other ways, Rus.¡± Rus rolled his eyes. ¡°Yeah? What else?¡± Terry was silent for a moment. ¡°A staff could vouch for him.¡± Rus raised his hands ¡°They¡¯re inside! How the hell can he get one to verify him to be who he says he is if he couldn¡¯t go in?¡± Terry was losing his steam now ¡°Well, he could get a person who can vouch for him?¡± Rus just paused, Lyle imagined him raising his eyebrow. ¡°What if the person is lying?¡± ¡°Fine. Your true name please.¡± Lyle watched the exchange in amusement and answered quickly. ¡°Lyle Welfer of Abeseth born and raised, son of Lloyd Welfer of Abeseth and Greta Hersh of Falconsea.¡± Terry checked the list and when he found the name he nodded. ¡°Looks like everything is fine. I¡¯ll confirm your identity later. Get your badge and identification card at the student union building first before heading into your dormitory. Just follow the signs.¡± Prelude 4 After following the directions from the administrative staff for the dormitory, Lyle looked around at a large building, at least 5 floors tall, with disbelief. He had seen the tall tower that wanted to reach the heavens but this building could fit three of Lyle¡¯s houses side by side and another on top. Looking from afar was not the same as standing right in front of it and Lyle could feel himself growing smaller at the size of the building. Lyle started as a student landed in front of him. Lyle looked closer and found that at the front of the building were three terraces fully open with cultivators jumping to and from them. And more amazing still was that it was not only on the second floor but on higher floors. Lyle after a few minutes of watching the spectacle entered the dormitory for the boys. Lyle first saw the reception desk and a man standing there. He looked to be in his thirties with a neatly cut short hair and a goatee. He had green eyes that when Lyle stared into, felt like he was looking into the man¡¯s kind soul. He also had an aura about him, what Lyle referred to as the cultivator¡¯s aura. The man was currently reading a book titled ¡°The Lusty Servant and his Asexual master.¡± ¡°Just a minute, I¡¯m getting to the good part. Yor is finally confessing to her crimes of seducing his master and Julius has finally developed feelings for You.¡± Lyle waited patiently if a little confused. Why were all the elders at this school so different from the stories and visiting cultivators that he heard about? Were all cultivators like this? The man closed the book after a few minutes and looked at Lyle. ¡°Show me your ID and I¡¯ll give you your key. All the rooms for freshmen are here on the first floor.¡± Lyle handed his newly acquired ID, a metal plate that has an accurate picture of him on it. ¡°Lyle Welfer. Rank 16.¡± The man ducked under his desk and came back with a box and a key at the top. ¡°Here is a part of your reward. In a week''s time will be the start of the school year and you need to fill in and pass a data sheet for the classes you need to take tomorrow to the administrative building. Failure to do so will result in random classes. You can get your class schedule a day before the class starts.¡± Lyle took the surprisingly heavy box. ¡°Thank you, elder. I will do that at once. I¡¯ll take my leave now.¡± The man nodded and got back to his book. He took the key with a wood attached to it that said ¡°102¡±. He passed the doors, the gap between them shortening as he passed more until he arrived at the door with the same number as his keys. He turned the key and looked at the door. Lyle entered a room bigger than his own in his house. Bigger than the servant chambers, where they stayed during the entrance tests. The room had 2 bunk beds and one single bed. He noticed that the single bed was already occupied and so was the bottom bed of one of the double beds. Lyle moved to the last bottom bed and placed his pack and the box. Sitting in the bed, Lyle scanned the room. He saw five tables, one at each corner and another beside the door. A line of five closets was placed on one side of the room. The windows with a view of a field and the wall reminded him that the place was guarded and secure. Lyle opened the box to see a collection of pills and books. At the very top sat a piece of paper. The top read ¡°Classes and extracurriculars¡±. As Lyle read he realized that the academy had a variety of classes and that he had to attend 6 - 10 classes. He noticed that the classes he had to take must be varied. It must not all be math or about cultivation, although he could pick all his classes related to cultivation, the classes he had to take would be something like ¡°Cultivator and their impact on the economy, and Cultivator¡¯s history.¡± So busy reading, Lyle didn¡¯t realize that another person entered the room and was looking at him. So when Lyle finished reading the form, he found himself jumping at the sight of Irnel standing a few feet from him. Irnel snickered, Lyle noticed that Irnel¡¯s laugh sounded like chimes on a windy day. ¡°Hey. Look, thanks for the advice from the test.¡± Irnel sat back down to the other. ¡°You¡¯re get scared easy. You won¡¯t last a night in the street.¡± He got a point there, Lyle conceded in his mind. ¡°Maybe not now, but when we start cultivating nothing will make me flinch.¡± Irnel just shrugged, moving towards Lyle¡¯s sheet of paper. ¡°What¡¯re the lessons you¡¯re taking?¡± Lyle suddenly felt hot, he moved away from his paper. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet, but I¡¯m thinking of taking the easy ones. I like history and maybe the economics one. I would also like to take the extra physical training and mental meditation classes, maybe the basic math class too so that makes five.¡± ¡°Hmmm. I think I¡¯ll take the training ones too. You should take the one with beasts or plants. You don¡¯t know when you may encounter danger or precious plants.¡± Lyle suddenly felt happy. ¡°Yeah, that makes sense. Sure, I¡¯ll take the beast one.¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Lyle and Irnel talked some more about the prospective classes they could take. The classes were very varied and some were very weird. There was a class called ¡°Writing erotic novels¡± and even mundane ones like ¡°Basic Farming.¡± Another person entered the room before long. This guy was bulky, tall and had calloused hands, He nodded towards the two and when Lyle said hello and Irnel nodded back, the giant walked towards the upper bed of Lyle¡¯s. He placed his bag and box, took the form of the paper and went to a table. Lyle just shrugged after a moment and continued their small talk with Irnel. Later that night, Lyle met the other two, Kurtis Gerard and Fredrick Massey. They were both came from cultivator families and quickly ignored them after knowing that Lyle was from a merchant family, Irnel was an orphan and Chris was a farmer¡¯s son. Although tension was present between the roommates, nothing escalated to a fight. The next day, Irnel, Lyle and Chris went into the admin building and decided to tour the academy. The place was huge, and they realized that the place had two courtyards. There were also vendors in the second courtyard, the one between the dorms of the boys and the girls. They also learned that they can come and go to the academy before curfew, which was the tenth bell, and they could visit their families as long as they can come back on time. While Lyle and his new roommates were strolling around, they met with Lester. He was also with his new roommates. Lyle jogged towards his old friend, leaving his roommates to lag behind him ¡°Lester hey! Congratulations on passing! I knew you could do it.¡± Lester approached him, he had a slight smile. ¡°Yeah I did, no thanks to you. Look out, cause the real competition starts now. Let¡¯s see who gets stronger faster.¡± Lester patted Lyles back as they laughed and talked. It looked like Lester was back to his arrogant self. They continued talking for a few more minutes before walking together with their roommates. Lyle realized a few minutes after talking to Lester¡¯s group that they were envied and respected Lyle and his roommates, and he also sensed a slight hostility, a begrudging respect. The two groups mingled until dinner time where Lyle met the server again, yesterday¡¯s server was different and he was too exhausted to talk to her. Lyle walked up to the counter to look at the food. ¡°Good evening mister. Give me your best vegetable dish and meat dish. Half and half pease.¡± The man grunted. ¡°Best? Everything I cook is the best. I¡¯ll just give you the newest dish I made then you give me your thoughts hm. If you people can appreciate my food then maybe I¡¯m doing something right.¡± Lyle didn¡¯t have a reply to that so he just laughed. When he received his plate, Lyle went to the table with Lester and his roommates. They chatted some more before walking together to their dorms and retiring for the night. A banging sound awoke Lyle. The darkroom didn¡¯t help his confused and hazy mind. As he got up, he heard his roommates groaning and stirring from their slumber. After a few more seconds of continued banging, Lyle now noticed that it was coming from the door, Kurtis trudged towards the door and opened it forcefully, his annoyance clear ¡°What the hell is going on!¡± Kurtis¡¯ tirade was cut short as he was pulled out of the room and into the hallway. Alarmed that they were under attack, Lyle¡¯s body quickly woke up and his mind cleared. He looked at his remaining roommates and moved towards Chris and Irnel. Before they properly grouped up, someone shouted. ¡°Get out of your rooms and fall in line in the hallway.¡± Lyle didn¡¯t recognize the voice and looked at his friends. Chris squared his shoulders and Irnel was inching his way towards the windows. A few tense seconds passed before a boy, smaller than Chris walked into the room and stood in the middle. The boy smirked at what he saw. ¡°You can try to fight me or you could follow. You¡¯ll go out one way or another.¡± Before Lyle could say anything, Chris was already charging at the boy. At the corner of his eyes, he saw that Fredrick was also preparing to strike while Irnel opened the window. The boy moved fast, inhumanly so. He dashed towards Irnel, easily passing both Chris and Lyle, and caught a fistful of the back of his shirt. He threw him into the room, while Fredrick dashed towards the open door. Chris stopped and turned ready to charge once again while Lyle helped Irnel up. The boy and Chris collided, his tan arms in front of him in a cross pattern while the boy just stood. Against all his expectations, Lyle saw Chris go down as the boy remained standing, unscathed. He walked towards Chris, easily picking him up, and threw him towards the door. Lyle and Irnel weren¡¯t idle while they were fighting. Lyle stood in the way his tutor taught him, arms close and hands clenched. Irnel was Lyle also in a fighting position. The boy calmly walked up to them. He still had that smirk, like fighting five on one was nothing to him. Filled with adrenaline, Lyle was unable to think and unable to fight. He gawked as Irnel charged towards the older boy, a knife in his hands. Lyle say the boy''s smile get wider as Irnel ran towards the boy. He just stood there, hands in his pocket as Irnel charged with abandon. Lyle snapped out of his stupor and charged the boy, being a second behind Irnel. Lyle didn''t see the older boy move. One second Lyle was charging, the next he was seeing the ceiling. Things happened so fast that Lyle only began to hurt a moment after he was on the ground. The pain bloomed so suddenly that he writhed and coughed violently after the pain caught up. ¡°See, I told you you''d be outside one way or another." The boy stood somewhere near Lyle but he couldn''t spare the focus to track exactly where. "Thanks for the fun though, if you haven''t realized it yet, I''m going to tell you so that you all could survive in this academy. You kids are just that. Kids. You''re not the sons of powerful noble families or from a cultivator bloodline, nor are you peasants ready to serve your masters. You''re students and that is all you are, at the bottom in this academy. Even servants are above you at this point. And if you can''t adapt quickly to this lifestyle either improve so that no one can go against you or get out of here no one wants you here "Now pick yourselves up and fall in line. You have ten minutes." With that Lyle heard footsteps coming towards him and saw a foot going over his head. Lyle tried to stand up after a few minutes but found that his feet were unsteady. Luckily Chris recovered first and helped Lyle as he stood up and steadied him. Lyle crept towards Irnel, still wary of his senior hurting them, and helped him up. He nodded his thanks to Chris before looking around. The same scene happened all around, people on the ground trying to get up and others helping them. When all of the first years were standing, the older students faced them on the other end of the doorway. A teacher walked down the hall afterwards and when he got to the end of the line, Lyle didn¡¯t recognize this teacher. Lyle could hear him talking like he was beside him. ¡°Good morning students. Today is the start of your training. For the next five days, you will be running and doing whatever I say until sunrise. Those who fail this training course will be expelled. ¡°I will give you five minutes to recover. In the box that you were given, there is a pill that makes you recover better. You can use it. Or not. Your break begins now.¡± Chapter 1 Lyle panted, hands on his knees, breathing as much air as his lungs could take one breath at a time. Lyle was no stranger to physical exertion but the things the elder made them do had Lyle wishing that he was back home lifting boxes. At least those boxes needed to be transported a short distance to the wagon. The elder, he denied them the privilege of his name and told them to just call him coach, like the front seat of the carriage, made them all run laps after everyone took a single pill. The pill¡¯s effect was immediate, Lyle could visibly feel the pain leaving his body and energizing him, he felt better than he ever did as he could run without stopping. Boy was he wrong. Using his strange technique, coach spoke from the side of the courtyard but everyone heard him. ¡°You have 2 laps more to run after this five-minute break. You can take another pill but do not be dependent on them, the more you use them the less effective the training becomes, and the longer and harder the exercise becomes.¡± Lyle shuddered at coach¡¯s words. This was going to get harder? Lyle thought of such things but before his mind wandered off into unpleasant places, someone patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Hey, good work. I was thinking that you were gonna pass out but you kept going, I¡¯m surprised that you¡¯re not on the ground right now..¡± Irnel was beside him and coming from in front of him was Chris. Both were in fairly good shape but Irnel was doing the best out of them all. He looked up to stare at his roommates'' clean-ish face. ¡°Why are you not sweating as hard as the rest of us? Are you secretly a cultivator?¡± Irnel¡¯s easy smile dropped and his eyes looked far away. ¡°In the streets, if you can¡¯t run fast and long, you die. I guess that helped me now.¡± Lyle froze, from an outside perspective Lyle looked like a deer in front of a carriage, wide-eyed and frozen stiff. Irnel laughed when he saw Lyle¡¯s expression. ¡°Dude, there¡¯s no helping it, we didn¡¯t want to go to an orphanage so we lived in the streets. It was our choice and now it helped me. That¡¯s life.¡± Lyle tried to smile but found that he could not. So he stood up instead and patted Irnel and began to jog again. After jogging for two more laps, coach made them perform a set of movements for the rest of the time remaining. Lyle fell more than a couple of times trying to copy coach¡¯s movements and his legs and arms were sore afterward. As the sun rose, Lyle could make out that on the other side of the courtyard, the girls were doing the same. ¡°That¡¯s it for today, we¡¯ll start again tomorrow at the same time. If you don¡¯t wake up, I¡¯ll be sure to send the sophomores to fetch you. That is all. Dismissed.¡± With that, almost all of the students collapsed. Lyle just laid there for a good thirty minutes, the cold being chased off by the rising sun and his partially frozen fingers heating up. The sun felt nice, so nice that Lyle almost fell asleep then and there if not for Henry approaching him. They had briefly met while running and kept an eye on each other. Henry crouched down near Lyle¡¯s face and dangled a bottle of pills, the same pills that Lyle previously toon. Lyle noticed that it had fewer pills than Lyle¡¯s bottle. ¡°Want one? The training is over for today so taking a pill now shouldn¡¯t hurt right?¡± ¡°Yes please.¡± Lyle didn¡¯t think to bring his bottle. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one of mine when we get to the dorm.¡± ¡°Yeah sure, no rush.¡± henry took one pill out and dropped it in Lyle¡¯s hand. Lyle quickly downed the pill. Instead of relief, what Lyle felt was intense pain, quickly followed by relief. Lyle almost shouted, his face contorting before the relief set in. When the effect of the pill wore off, Lyle was as good as new, even his sleepiness vanished. He was suddenly very hungry so Lyle quickly stood up and invited his roommates and Henry to breakfast. Lyle was a little nervous about his old and new friends meeting, worried that they wouldn¡¯t get along. Luckily all his fears were for naught as both groups immediately connected and were joking and complaining about the coach, the school and the sophomores. They arrived in a very noisy cafeteria and a long line for the food. They talked some more while waiting for the food, the server was not the big blonde guy Lyle first met and quickly ordered a large serving of stew, bread, and meat. They all sat down and ate. Even the usually graceful and reserved Taylor tore into her food. Edward was another sight to behold. The quiet boy voraciously stuffing his mouth with bread and swallowing with the soup was almost comical but no one noticed. They were all too busy eating. After their first serving, all of them came back to get seconds, the line now the same length as before. It looked like they had the same idea. They ate their food slower this time, now actually talking to one another instead of focusing on just their food. ¡°Hey, do you two need help reading? It¡¯s just I noticed that you sound the words out as you read them and was wondering if you need help.¡± The three roommates were taking a stroll through the courtyard near the dorms where vendors abounded. Lyle was addressing both his new friends. ¡°It¡¯s just that we have all this free time and the guards aren¡¯t letting us out before the classes start so maybe we could use this time to learn.¡± Irnel had that far away look again. Chris was the first to speak to the other two¡¯s surprise. ¡°I could use the help. Thanks.¡± After a moment, Irnel looked at Lyle and spoke after a moment. ¡°Yeah, sure. Let¡¯s do it.¡± The rest of the morning, Lyle and his roommates went to the library to study. The library was as grand as the other buildings in the academy. They learned that the library contains rooms for three people or more to use for studying and that they can book one in advance, as long as the time slot is not yet taken. Luckily at the start of the school year, no one wanted to study so a lot of rooms were available. Lyle and his friends read books on the subjects that interested them. Mostly books on heroes but sometimes books on agriculture for Chris, and economics for Lyle. Surprisingly Irnel had a love for puzzles and math. Lyle spent his afternoon alone, today Lyle chatted with the guards at the front gate, Rus and Terry. They told Lyle some tales on their adventures as cultivators across the land. After talking to them Lyle walked around alone and met with his old friends.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Thus a routine was built in the next four days. Before dawn, Lyle would wake up and exercise together with the rest of his class. The mornings were spent reading with his roommates and the afternoons were used for whatever Lyle wanted, usually just meeting new people and strolling around the campus. ¡°Alright gather up! This is the last day before school officially starts, the day that you get your schedules and the last day of this class. If you¡¯re still unfamiliar with the place ask a friend the directions for your class or a servant. Tomorrow at the eighth-morning bell, you are to gather at the multi-purpose hall for the official opening ceremony for the school year.¡± A cheer erupted from the boys and girls, finally, the torture that was exercise was over. When the noise died down, coach dismissed them for the day. Irnel was beside Lyle panting as he did. Irnel was now finally properly sweating as coach singled him out together with a Chris and a few of the more fit students and made them do more laps in shorter times and made to practice a harder version of their movement or forms as coach called it. ¡°Finally, I thought that the torture would never end!¡± Irnel said. Lyle saw his other roommate approach and together they headed to the cafeteria. Lyle ordered his usual. Before eating, Lyle and his friends crushed the pill and poured it into the water. Someone realized that if you did this, you wouldn¡¯t hurt as much and the water tastes like fruit juice. Lyle and his friends went to the administrative building, the most mundane of the buildings with only three floors with stairs, to get their schedules. They just had to present their IDs and after a few moments, they had a piece of paper that had the time, location and subject for the rest of the year. The group quickly read their schedule and a groan escaped all three of them. They had a class called Physical Enrichment, and in the description, it says ¡°The study of the physical body through exercise.¡± And instead of the one hour, they had before, the subject had two bell¡¯s worth of time, followed by meditation class, another two hours followed by basic cultivation for one hour before a one-hour lunch break. The other classes were divided into the afternoon from the first-afternoon bell to the fifth. Lyle heard Irnel swear. ¡°I thought that the torture was over! Now it¡¯s even longer. Argh, I hate this.¡± Lyle shared the same thoughts but didn¡¯t voice it. He let Irnel rant for the three of them. Despite the dreaded exercise subject, Lyle¡¯s heartbeat stronger at the thought of school finally starting. He could finally start on the path of being a cultivator. Lyle decided to distract Irnel. ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t we visit the rooms listed on our classes?¡± Irnel stopped from his tirade and looked at Lyle. he shrugged. ¡°Sure, lead the way.¡± And so he did. Lyle and company went to the academic building, the one next to the library. They entered the building, the biggest one on the campus but he didn¡¯t gawk this time, all that strolling was making him used to the thought of big buildings and rising towers. The building surprisingly has stairs unlike the dorms and the cafeteria which only had holes and terraces as the entrance to the higher floors. The hallways seemed like an endless maze, going every which way and abruptly ending into a dead end. They searched their classes and realized how confusing it all is. It took them all morning just to locate their classes. The rest of the day proceeded as normal and Lyle went to bed early. He slept past midnight though, his body refusing to sleep, his mind kept going back to the stories told to him by the guard duo and his father. He couldn¡¯t believe that he was finally going to be a cultivator. Lyle was in the testing hall, or the multi-purpose hall, like all other buildings in the academy this one was also huge. He could see that every student, teacher, and elder was present. Even with the whole population of the academy concentrated into this building, Lyle found himself with plenty of space to move around, not that he did, coach warned them that any bad behavior would be punished. If the exercise wasn¡¯t a punishment Lyle feared what was. After the eight bells had rung, a man stepped out of the stage. He had fair skin and blue electric hair. His hair was combed back but Lyle could see sparks forming in his hair. His eyes bright yellow iris also made him stand out, Lyle had never seen those eyes before. Even with his electric appearance, the man looked elegant and strode to the center with grace and languid movement. The man was the oldest Lyle had met, with wrinkles on his forehead and eyes signaling a lifetime of laughter and an easy smile on his lips. To Lyle, the man looked like a proud grandpa. He was dressed in a white robe, with a stitching pattern of gold dragons on his sleeves and the bottom of his robe had green mountains The room¡¯s noise slowly ground to a halt until the man reached the center. The man spoke, his voice loud and clear, sounding like he didn¡¯t use the technique used by the other teachers. ¡°Greetings students new and old. I welcome you to the academy. As you all know, this academy was built to teach the younger generation how to use the energy around us into whatever we want. And we made great strides in that regard. But recently we have opened our doors to noncultivators, mainly scholars and those who seek to improve their knowledge. ¡°This is a good thing, as knowledge should not be hoarded and kept only to those who are strong. We as a nation and as a people would not advance if there is no trust. And more importantly, more people means more breakthroughs in our knowledge and less work! ¡°I am the current principal of this academy, and you may call me Principal Taniel Lagunov. And I aim to make this institution better, raise new heights with you. But today isn¡¯t about me. No, it¡¯s about you. Today marks a new chapter of your life, either from beginning cultivation, advancing to a new realm or even teaching for the first time. Grab this opportunity and never let go because it may be the only one you¡¯ll get. ¡°I would like to call on Erin Antoni. Please come up to the stage.¡± This statement started murmurs on the ground. Lyle didn¡¯t know him but, all of his other classmates did. A girl with skin as dark as night walked up to the stage. She prowled like a tigress, stalking her prey, her every movement exuded confidence. Principal Taniel nodded at her and then looked back towards the crowd. ¡°This fine young lady showed the best characteristics on the test and was ranked at the top of the entrance ceremony. As a reward, she will have her very first skill core.¡± This statement shocked all of the new students and even made others shout in anger. The principal produced a wooden box and opened it in a way that the box was facing the girl while also showing the three spherical orbs inside it. The three orbs all looked different and all looked powerful. The noise quickly died down again, everyone mesmerized by the powerful item displayed in front of them. ¡°Young lady, this choice can be the determining factor of whether you succeed in the world of cultivation or kill you. Choose wisely, as even I don¡¯t know what these orbs hold.¡± The principal¡¯s voice rang out in the awed silence. Silently, carefully, Erin Antoni hovered her right hand over the orbs. Her hand was slightly shaking. Lyle¡¯s hand would too. These are featured on almost every fairy tale Lyle listened to when he was a child. These orbs were power precipitated and no orb was useless. From breathing fire to being immovable the possibilities were endless and in front of the three of these legendary items. The girl finally picked up an orb and the principal nodded to her and closed the box. ¡°All power comes with a price, be they hard work or a loss of something important. Now, this is your price young one. Connect with the orb, if it accepts you, you get its power, if it doesn¡¯t the orb becomes dormant, never to be absorbed again.¡± Erin nodded and closed her eyes. For a second that lasted an infinity nothing happened, all the people there held their breaths. And at the next second, the orb glowed so brightly that everyone was completely blinded. As they regained their sights Erin was floating three feet in the air. The principal caught her. ¡°This event concludes the opening ceremony.¡± Chapter 2 Lyle and his new classmates sat still and quiet for a few minutes. Then the new freshmen began talking loudly, the building suddenly filled with noise and chatter, students out shouting each other as they tried to make their shock and awe known. Lyle found himself looking at Irnel and Irnel looking back. They burst into chatter, each one trying to speak and understand the other at the same time. ¡°Have you seen that! That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes! The-¡± ¡°That was crazy, is that how cultivation works? Darn, I should have not sto-¡± ¡°Crazy part is that Erin is in our year! Someone our age has a freaking-¡± ¡°Nevermind that, Cultivators are so powerful. Nobody¡¯s gonna mess with me when I get back home¡± ¡°Core! She is so gonna be stronger than us when we all start to train.¡± They were both out of breath and panting by the time they finished. Lyle suddenly felt someone bump into him, pushing him away from Irnel and into another student. The student didn¡¯t seem to mind, and just pushed Lyle back, too engrossed was she talking to the one next to her. Lyle looked around and spotted the bumper. It was Fredrick. Lyle felt his blood boil. First, he runs away from the fight with the senior, and now he pushed him aside to go to the front? Lyle followed after Fredrick to the stage. After pushing their way out of the crowd, Lyle calmed down a little, Fredrick¡¯s face was red and his eyes had that murderous gaze, all set into the unconscious Erin. Lyle realized that he followed an angry Fredrick and was probably going to make a scene too late. They were finally at the front of the stage, with Lyle just ahead of the crowd. Fredrick touched his necklace and the stone glowed blue. When he spoke, his voice resounded in the room. ¡°That was supposed to be mine!¡± The room suddenly felt cold, and a shiver ran down Lyle¡¯s spine. All the attention was now on Fredrick and some were even on him. ¡°I was the first to the second test, I didn¡¯t use any pills for the exam and I was rated as exceptional in my talent! Why was I 11th and not 1st? There must have been some mistake! Someone added a 1 on my placement. That girl doesn¡¯t deserve that orb. I do!¡± The previously quiet room fell deathly silent. Lyle could hear the craning of the neck of the people inside the building, going from Frederick and into the principal. The principal for his part looked calmly at Fredrick and, to his utter horror, Lyle. ¡°Do you share the same opinion as him?¡± the principal¡¯s face showed no obvious emotion besides curiosity. ¡°No, sir! I was just about to confront Fredrick¡¯s behavior as a roommate when I realized where I was going. I do not share the same opinion he does.¡± Lyle entered the crowd as fast as he possibly can. The principal looked at Fredrick ¡°Hm¡­ I see. Do you mean to say that you are the best new freshman in this school? Am I right?¡± Fredrick shouted immediately. ¡°I should be number 1!¡± The principal nodded. ¡°I see. Then would you like to prove it?¡± Fredrick stepped back but stepped forward once more. ¡°Give me a fair test and I will pass it.¡± ¡°Since the girl already has an orb, she is out of your league. So you have to beat the person in second place, whoever that person is. If you make it to the top of the freshman competition in the tournament, then I¡¯ll personally reward you with your skill orb. If you fail, I get to kick you out. Do you agree?¡± Fredrick blanched, looked around at all the people and faced the principal once more. ¡°I accept your challenge principal. Be ready for my reward.¡± Fredrick quickly moved back, bumping into Lyle and sneering at him as he passed. The crowd parted for him and Fredrick quickened his pace, He reached the closed and opened the door but couldn¡¯t A new person came up to the stage while the principal left with Erin. Lyle recognized Greg from the entrance exam, his face still carrying his friendly expression. He walked with grace, the grace of a cultivator, floating as he moved into the center stage. He coughed to gain the attention of all the students.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Greg nodded towards the curtains on the right side of the stage, where principal Taniel left to take care of the unconscious Erin. ¡°Let us thank the principal for the opening speech of the opening ceremony. A few announcements before we proceed to the award ceremony. ¡°The Annual sports and crafts tournament will be held seven days before the noone of March. If anyone forgets, today is ten days before the mid of January so better prepare yourself and I expect everyone to participate. Go to the administration office if you want more information on the tournament ¡°Now, we will give the awards for the top-performing students for the year.¡± Lyle became excited. His placing in the sixteenth must be good, right? While Lyle thought of his rewards, Greg called out the older years¡¯ rewards. The seniors, the oldest group with ages ranging from as young as 20 years old and as old as 100 years old. They all looked like 20-year-olds so it was hard to differentiate their true ages but the teachers knew them, and the time they spent here. The top new student of this list was given a prize, their skill orbs, given that the top new student did not have an orb. The next one was juniors. Their ages did not vary as much as the older group. The youngest being a 19-year-old girl and the oldest being 35 years old. The top new students were given a mediocre prize compared to a skill orb, but still a good prize. The sophomores were next. This class always had new students each year and was by far the most populated class. The freshmen had 342 new incoming students and 500 recurring ones. While the sophomore students had 161 new students to their already massive 1500 sophomores that didn¡¯t join the junior class. For this level of class, Mr. Greg called 15 names. The new students all made their way and formed a line and the teacher gave them each a scroll. Lyle was only vaguely aware of what happened, too stunned at the sheer amount of the students and the power his seniors looked like. He noticed that the seniors had more colorful features, be it their hair, eyes, skin or something else. Lyle saw a senior with a pink horn coming out of the back of her head curving upwards. Greg said the words Lyle had been waiting for this whole time. ¡°Since there are 342 new students, we would award the top 34 students of the new freshmen class.¡± Greg named the students one by one starting from the 34th best new freshman. Lyle watched as the boxes got bigger as the numbers decreased. From something that could hold an inkpot to something that could hold a couple of scrolls, each gift got progressively bigger. Lyl finally heard his name, he stood up and walked towards Mr. Greg. all eyes looked at Lyle at that moment, and his legs felt like he was moving lead. Lyle could feel all the eyes on him but as his father told him, Lyle took a deep breath and started walking. His almost impossibly heavy feet began to rise and he stumbled as he walked and he heard a few chuckles. Lyle swallowed back his shame and continued his trek towards the short journey from his position in the freshman line to the stage. Lyle made it to the stage where his prize and Mr. Greg were. The kind man¡¯s grey eyes looked at him, the green flecks moving slowly in an invisible wind. ¡°Ahh, young Lyle, how has the academy been treating you?¡± Lyle let out a grimace. ¡°The training has been hell, Mr. Greg. The running around the courtyard especially. The last day coach made us run 10 laps! I could barely do one when I got here,¡± Mr. Greg nodded, his eyes spoke of understanding coming from experience. ¡°Ah, the famous training. When I was just starting here, I too couldn¡¯t finish the laps. The pills were few then and we had to ration it very carefully. Enough reminiscing, you have an award to open and I still have to give more awards.¡± Mr. Greg pulled out a box that could carry a pair of boots He accepted the gift, excited to know what was in it. ¡°Thank you for the gift, Mr. Greg. I¡¯ll be sure to use it wisely.¡± ¡°Of that, I have no doubt. Go back to your line and await further instructions.¡± Lyle nodded and made his way back to the line, this time not caring for the stares that he got. Mr. Greg went to all of the students until the second placer. ¡°Now that the announcements and the award ceremony are finished, the freshmen are allowed to leave, all others need to stay.¡± A teacher, Lyle recognized him by his book, stepped towards the new and old freshmen. ¡°You¡¯re to be in the cultivation building Meditation Hall 1 before the ninth bell. That¡¯s all, you¡¯re free to go.¡± With that Lyle and his classmates left the building. Lyle walked towards the direction of the cultivation building, going together with his friends, old and new, talking while going there slowly. A simple question made sure that they were in front of the right room. They talked about the orb and the issuing drama. The time passed this way and before Lyle knew it, the ninth bell had rung. Ten teachers stepped out of the door of the cultivation hall. One of them stepped forward. ¡°The first fifty students come with me. According to rankings.¡± Lyle, Irnel, Chris and surprisingly Henry and Taylor all went into the room. He entered the room and the students all followed. Lyle saw that the place was just a big open space, with a lot of light coming in from big windows and rugs evenly placed on the ground. The teacher waved her students in. ¡°Good morning class. From today on you will come here every morning except the seventh day at the ninth bell. We will be sensing the ki in your body and guide it. My name is Diana Morton, you may call me teacher Diana. Any questions? Raise your hands¡± Her black hair was tied into a neat bun and her dark eyes stared into each of her students. When no one did, she nodded. ¡°Sit anywhere you like and we¡¯ll start once your all seated.¡± They did as they were told, Lyle and his friends sitting close together. When they were all seated, teacher Diana stepped looked around and placed herself at the front of the room. ¡°Does anyone know what meditation is?¡± A few hands shot up. The teacher chose one. ¡°Meditation is when one clears the mind and opens himself up to sense the world.¡± ¡°A very textbook answer but still correct. Meditation is a way to connect with our bodies and our minds. Through this method, one''s mind and body are connected more than ever and as a result, you can control more of both of them and more importantly, sense the ki residing inside. I will teach you how to meditate for the next week, those that fail to sense their ki in seven days will be put into a slower class and be replaced with someone who can keep up. Let¡¯s start.¡± Teacher Diana began again. Lyle realized how fast the lessons were going to be, he was worried he would be unable to keep up. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the way you sit. Look at me and copy my position. Cross your legs, like so.¡± Ms. Diana sat down at the frontmost mat and did as she instructed. The other students followed. ¡°Then your hands should be on top of your knees with any hand signs you are comfortable. For today let¡¯s just place it palm down.¡± Teacher Diana taught the breathing techniques to her students, Lyle struggling to breathe the way he was instructed while the position did help. For the next thirty minutes, teacher Diana corrected each end every student and observed for ten minutes. Once they were breathing in accordance to her specifications, Ms. Diana spoke through them the various processes in which they could achieve a state of mind appropriate for meditation. At the end of the class, one person was able to do it. Ms. Diana asked everyone what they experienced while they were meditating, and approved that one of her students was able to sense it. Chapter 3 Lyle had wondered why Taylor made it into the top 50 of their class while Edward did not. Edward was studious and had excellent talent, the qualities Lyle thought was needed to place highly in the exam. So what made Taylor special? The answer showed when Ms. Diana called out to her students. ¡°Class someone was able to sense her qi on her first day. Let us all take a break and give applause to Ms. Taylor Mattams.¡± For the last bell and a half, Lyle had been trying to concentrate on not thinking. He succeeded somewhat, Lyle thought that he could sense himself more, his beating heart, the small involuntary twitches of his muscles and the rapid movement of his closed eyes. Lyle clapped for Taylor, his friend since childhood and fellow students, and approached her together with their other friends. ¡°Nice one Taylor!¡± Lyle raised his hand and Taylor high fived him. ¡°How did you do it?¡± ¡°I just did what teacher Diana told me to. I concentrated and felt this thing. It looks like I¡¯ve been meditating before I sleep every night.¡± Taylor shrugged. Huh. Lyle thought about what to say and couldn¡¯t come up with one. Henry replied for everyone. ¡°Looks like someone is talented. Didn¡¯t you say you only have an average talent?¡± ¡°I do have average talent! Maybe I¡¯m just a genius whose talent cannot be measured by the tools used by mortals!¡± Taylor proclaimed, her head held high and her arms spread. ¡°Bow down mortals! Bow down before your overlord! But seriously, I think it¡¯s just pure luck.¡± Ms. Diana interrupted at that moment, her voice loud and clear even from the noise and clatter from Taylor¡¯s accomplishment. ¡°That was no accident. Why do you think you placed so high in the overall rankings despite you not having passed the secret test and having an average talent?¡± The teacher had a point. ¡°How can you test a person¡¯s ability to meditate?¡± asked Henry. ¡°I mean, you can but when did you test us for meditation?¡± The brown-eyed woman displayed a coy smile. ¡°The tests are what they only seem to be. Maybe in the future when you can conduct those tests yourself, you might be able to learn the intricacies of test making.¡± The students stared at ms. Diana, some nodded while others hummed. ¡°You have half a bell to practice, you may come and go here to meditate starting today but I will only be here between the 9th and 11th bell. You may do as you like, if you have any questions that are not stupid then ask me.¡± the teacher with her long hair swept a gaze before moving towards the only chair and desk at the corner of the room. Lyle went back to meditation and so did the others. A few, Fredrick and Kurtis including, left the room but Lyle didn¡¯t care. He focused inside. He continued to meditate until the 11th bell had passed. He woke his friends from their meditations and went into the next class. ¡°The next class is the Basics of cultivation right?¡± Lyle said ¡°Yeah, the next class is here too, if I¡¯m right.¡± Irnel stretched and yawned. ¡°Did you sleep?¡± ¡°What, no!¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°...okay maybe a little, but I meditated seriously!¡± ¡°Okay, whatever you say.¡± Lyle snickered. They bantered some more, Chris sometimes saying something in between but never really talking in more than ten-word sentences and eventually the group that left returned. Maybe into a tenth of a bell, A woman with fire-red hair entered. Lyle remembered her as the woman who oversaw the 4th test. She also brought her golden circle object, that she would look at from time to time. ¡°You may have recognized me from the 4th enrollment test. My name is Joella Mills. Teacher Mills, ms. Mills or Scholar Mills are the only names you are allowed to call me. That is the extent of our relationship.¡± Ms. Mills strutted to the front of the room. ¡°Form five lines, ten people in each line. You have 50 heartbeats to do it. Start now.¡± The red-haired teacher looked at her handheld device. Lyle and Irnel shared a glance then made a line in the middle with Chris at their back. The trio was soon followed by a lot of the students. Lyle and the others were finished lining up with a few students still milling at the edges. ¡°Time is up. The rest of you not in the line, leave.¡± The group of people who did not fall in line began protesting before three heartbeats passed. The black-eyed teacher spoke once more. ¡°That was not a request. Either go out now and have a chance to listen to the lesson tomorrow or be kicked out now and never come back.¡± Silence suddenly descended like a blanket thrown over the bed. The other students began walking away. Once the last student went away, Ms. Mills locked the door and faced her class. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± The teacher went to the front of the standing class. ¡°Every morning at the start for at least half a bell, I will be going to teach you about the cultivation world. The second part of the cultivation class will be spent in discussion about various topics. The first class will have no lesson first and would be an introduction to the subject. Any queries you have will be answered at the end of this lesson.¡± Lyle held off his question, him blurting it out might make him leave. ¡°During the lesson, you will sit down however you like so long as you do not get out of the mat. You will stand up when answering my question and when I say so. And you are to answer when asked a question. Am I understood?¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Good. Let¡¯s finish this lesson with homework, ask someone what they know about cultivation. Dismissed, you can go.¡± Lyle and his friends got up and went to the cafeteria. ¡°Our cultivation teacher was intense, I thought that I¡¯d get kicked out or something,¡± Irnel said in his high voice. He shivered and continued the walk. ¡°How about you guys, what did you think about her?¡± Lyle shrugged. ¡°I had tutors that strict before. I know how to behave when she¡¯s around. I hope she can teach me about cultivation, I¡¯ve heard stories about them but never ones explaining the inner workings of cultivators.¡± Henry chimed in. ¡°Yeah, so did I. Those teachers were the worst. They smack my hands at the slightest mistakes. It¡¯s like they enjoy seeing their students get hurt.¡± ¡°Fools! I never got disciplined because I actually study so I like my teachers.¡± Taylor practically bragged to the group. ¡°What about you Chris?¡± Irnel Looked at Chris, the stoic man had a pensive face on. ¡°I think she¡¯s going to be a great teacher,¡± Chris said Nel walked faster to face his new friends and walked backward. ¡°Huh? How can you say that? We¡¯d, like, never been taught by her yet.¡± Chris stayed silent for a moment. ¡°The head of the orphanage in our town is very strict. He would punish the children for their little mistakes and they would often cry.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that got to do with ms. Mills?¡± Chris looked at Nel and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m getting there. The teacher was, to everyone¡¯s shock, was also the reason most of the people in the orphanage gives donations. He was responsible for the success of many orphans, some of them even being cultivators.¡± ¡°Still didn¡¯t answer my question,¡± Nel said in a sing-song voice Lyle interrupted them. ¡°I think what is trying to say is that ms. Mills may be strict but she does it to improve and teach us.¡± Chris smiled and nodded at Lyle¡¯s words. ¡°Hey Nel, what are you going to eat today?¡± Lyle asked ¡°Who the heck is Nel?¡± Irnel asked, confusion written over his face. ¡°Um, it¡¯s your nickname, Irnel is too long so I shortened it.¡± Lyle tried to not show the nervousness inside him. ¡°Hm¡­ Nel, that sounds good! Alright, call me Nel from now on! You too Chris.¡± The trio with Lyle¡¯s friends walked toward the cafeteria and ate in between their conversation. The group separated and went to their respective classes. Lyle did a double-take when he saw that not only Nel but also Chris went to the same class. ¡°Why are you here Chris? I would have thought that being a farmer made you strong enough.¡± Lyle wondered out loud, not really expecting a reply. ¡°Being a farmer makes you strong, not being able to fight,¡± Chris said. The big man had a point, a farmer does not make a good warrior without training. The 1st-afternoon bell sounded and Lyle and his roommates entered the room. The room was big, as big as the testing hall in the multi-purpose building. They were currently in a circular room inside the training tower on the first floor. Lyle could see a number of the new freshmen with them and some of the old freshmen as well. If Lyle had to guess the number he would say about three hundred. A man showed up. It was, surprisingly, Mr. Greg. ¡°Good morning class. Now before we start, you need to form fifteen lines, hold out your arms so that you won¡¯t hit each other when moving.¡± The students did as Mr. Greg asked. After they were evenly spread out Mr. Greg nodded. ¡°Good. that will serve as your space when we practice the forms. You will be here from the 1st bell to the 3rd bell and I will teach you the basic forms of the academy¡¯s martial art. Remember the name. It is called Agua Fomar, translated it means the form of water. Since you¡¯re all here let¡¯s start the training. Ten laps around the room.¡± Lyle and his classmates groaned but still complied with their teacher¡¯s request. They ran for the rest of the second bell. ¡°Freaking hell! I can¡¯t believe we still have to run! I¡¯m tired of this!¡± Nel panted his hands on his legs barely able to keep himself up. ¡°I thought that the 10 laps we did were hard, this room is harder to run in! Arghhhh. I just want this to be over.¡± Mr. Greg must have heard Nel. The teacher faced his almost dying students. ¡°The laps you ran will be the norm before we start the forms, you will run 10 laps from today until the end of the school year.¡± Groans filled the room, even those that thought that they couldn''t speak. Mr. Greg only chuckled. Lyle heard someone say ¡°the sadist¡±. ¡°This will be all for today, we meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You are dismissed.¡± Lyle and his roommates separated from here. Lyle had basic math next and still had one hour to kill so he wandered around the campus. He ended up in the guardhouse. There he met Terry, eating a piece of bread with jam and meat. ¡°Hey, Lyle! How¡¯s the first day of school going for you?¡± Terry said in between bites. ¡°Do you want some?¡± Terry offered his sandwich ¡°No thanks, I¡¯m good. I have this assignment. Can you help me out?¡± ¡°Yeah sure. What is it?¡± ¡°We have to ask someone what cultivation is. Can you help me?¡± Terry smiled with teeth. ¡°Sure! I may be only at the mind cleansing stage but I¡¯m still a cultivator. Now let¡¯s see. Cultivation is a way for people to defy the heavens. What that means is that people disobey the laws placed upon by the world.¡± Terry nodded slowly, a content smile on his face. Lyle scrunched his eyebrows. After a few minutes, Lyle gave up. ¡°What? I did not understand anything about what you said.¡± Terry laughed. ¡°Let me explain it this way. What have you heard about cultivators? From legends, stories, and myths?¡± ¡°Oh, I can answer that! Cultivators live long lives and can carry mountains and call down lightning and can even fly!¡± ¡°Right, do normal people fly? Or can they walk on walls?¡± ¡°Of course not! That¡¯s why cultivators are so cool!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what it means to be a cultivator! To be able to do things no one else can do. Can anything call down lightning upon their enemies? Move faster than sound? That¡¯s what it means to defy the heavens!¡± ¡°Ohh¡­ okay. So what now? What is cultivation?¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting to that, impatient brat.¡± ¡°Hey! No, I¡¯m not!¡± Terry decided to ignore the boy. ¡°Cultivation is the method to do those things.¡± Lyle¡¯s eyes widened and nodded to Terry. ¡°I got it! But how do I cultivate?¡± ¡°Ahh, the famous question. How to become a cultivator. Don¡¯t rush young grasshopper, all will come in time and in your cultivation class.¡± ¡°Thanks for the advice, sir Terry. Do you have any news from the outside?¡± Terry¡¯s previous joyful demeanor changed. His eyes became sharp and his mouth formed into a thin line. ¡°Nothing good.¡± ¡°What happened? Did something happen?¡± Terry leaned in, eager for gossip and so was Lyle. It was getting kind of boring and the news was always good. ¡°There have been rumors that kids in the street are disappearing.¡± What? Lyle recalled that Nell was from the streets. ¡°Do you know where the people from the street go?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the problem, people don¡¯t care about the homeless, so they don¡¯t care and some are even grateful because the ¡®dirt and mess are gone¡¯. I pity the poor children if you tell me.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea where the children are vanishing into?¡± Terry put on a contemplative face and moved his face away from Lyle. ¡°It didn¡¯t come from me but I think that rouge cultivators are abducting them and making experiments on them.¡± Chapter 4 Lyle went into the academic building and into his basic math class. The class packed full when Lyle stepped into the room. The chairs were built like stairs and the long benches and tables can seat ten students each. He tried to look for any of his friends and failed to find them so Lyle sat on the first empty seat he found in the middle of the room. There seemed to be more students than Lyle had ever seen in a classroom. There were fifteen steps and on each step there stood four long benches and tables. This class must be open for the normal students as well. Lyle knew the school welcomed both cultivators and mortals but he didn¡¯t realize the mortals would have varying ages. Lyle could see a balding man behind a boy with his voice yet to break. The majority of the students had beards or facial hair, but Lyle could still see people his age or near his age sitting and preparing for the class. So occupied thinking about the rumor Terry said to him, Lyle belatedly realized he needed ink, paper, and quill or brush to take notes in class. Before he could get out, The teacher arrived. ¡°Settle down class, we are about to begin.¡± The teacher talked as soon as he reached the podium in the front and center of the classroom. Behind him stood a wall made of black material. ¡°As the first day of class, we will not be discussing anything and just go over the lessons we still do this year. I see we have students who have not brought out their writing material. Next meeting, please bring them. We will be meeting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays every week¡­¡± The teacher continued talking about his class. Lyle tried to pay attention and he did so with a modicum of success but his mind still wandered over to Irnel and the rumor of the missing kids. Did Nel know about it? Why didn¡¯t he tell Lyle if that was the case? These questions plagued Lyle all throughout the class. The teacher dismissed them after the 4th-afternoon bell had rung. Lyle got up and walked towards his next class, Cultivator¡¯s History on the same building. Lyle traversed the maze that was the academic building and entered the room for his Cultivator¡¯s History. Lyle opened the door and waited for his vision to adjust to the sunlight. Lyle could see people of all ages seated around the lecture hall, ranging from 12-year-olds to old men and women in their late 40s. Lyle found a seat quickly in the front of the room, on the first row in the middle, perfect for learning. As the 4th bell rang, an old woman with brown leathery skin and graying hair walked into the class and behind the podium. Words popped up on the board behind the brown-eyed woman. She looked at the class for a fraction of a bell, each person being watched like a hawk. When Lyle got his turn, he looked at the strict eyes and with all his will managed to look at her head-on. Before anyone could react, chalk started flying in all directions hitting many people, Lyle excluded. ¡°Everyone that was hit by chalk has two choices. Either take this class seriously or drop out. When at the beginning of the next week you still are not serious I will kick you out of my class. Is that understood?¡± The old lady continued. ¡°Let me make this clear: I run this class and anyone who complains will answer to me. Go ahead and try. I dare you to go tell your mommy or daddy what happened, see if the name Lisa Smith ring any bells. History is not an easy subject and especially Cultivator History. You will learn a lot from the lessons that I will teach but it will not be easy. So if any of you want to leave now would be the time.¡± Lyle watched, at first, no one was moving nor making any noise, then the first student, Lyle recognized him as a fellow new freshman and then he was followed by other people, most of them his age but some of the older people left too. Lyle saw that all of the students who left had a white mark on their forehead. The class thinned, almost a quarter of the students left but not all of those who had a white mark left. Lisa snorted. ¡°Cowards, couldn¡¯t even take a little criticism. Now I will assume that those that are left are ready for the class. We will meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the 4-5th bell. Bring writing materials and don¡¯t be late. That is all, you are dismissed.¡± Lyle, deciding to have an early dinner, went into the cafeteria in his light clothing, the late afternoon air meeting his skin and making him shiver. The bustle of the cafeteria hit Lyle as he walked towards the line for the food. When Lyle saw the blonde cook was serving food, he decided to talk to him before eating. He approached the counter and waved at the man. The man looked at him and nodded. ¡°I see that you have been eating well, yes? That is good as the training will only get harder for new students.¡± ¡°Yeah thanks, the food here is really good. Hey, have you heard about the rumors?¡± The cook nodded, his face scrunched up. ¡°Many rumors are spilled in the kitchen yes?¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Lyle made an o-face. He forgot that there was more than one thing happening at the same time and that since starting in the school, he had not been privy to the news outside. ¡°Oh yeah. I mean the one where the homeless are going missing. Do you know anything about it?¡± The cook looked at his right and left, then made a gesture with his hands for coming closer. Lyle leaned in. ¡°I have not heard much but the news is sad, no? The homeless are still people and they¡¯re being taken is not a good sign. What I do know is that people are not caring for that but they should. If someone is taking the homeless it is only a matter of time before the kids and other people are taken too.¡± The cook has a point, Lyle conceded with a bow. ¡°Yes but I¡¯m more worried about what¡¯s happening to the ones that are already gone, is there any news?¡± ¡°Hm. Nobodies have shown up, yes? Let¡¯s just hope that this is a good sign.¡± The cook waved a hand as if to vanish the gloomy atmosphere. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about food, yes? What would you like?¡± Lyle smiled, thinking about the food there. ¡°Whatever you want to recommend sir!¡± Lyle walked towards the library to borrow a few books. This was not said during the class but it never hurt to be prepared. He entered the room and his shoulders sagged as the room¡¯s hot air chased the cold evening weather. Lyle stood there welcoming the change in temperature. ¡°Come in and close the door, you¡¯re letting the hot air out!¡± Lyle was jolted out of his relaxed state and quickly followed the voice. Lyle looked towards the counter beside the entrance of the library to see an old man sternly watching him. ¡°Good, now do what you must in silence.¡± The librarian turned and walked away going into his seat and began reading the book that was previously on his chair. Lyle mumbled an apology and went on to find the books he wanted. Luckily the sections of the library and the shelves were labeled, making Lyle¡¯s job easier. He found the books quickly but not before meeting his roommate Nel at the Variant zoology section. Lyle waved at Nel and approached as did Irnel. Lyle was the first to talk, making sure that his voice was low. ¡°Hey, how were your classes?¡± As Nel¡¯s lips turned upwards, Lyle couldn¡¯t help but resist staring at them. He quickly looked at his eyes. ¡°The knives lesson¡¯s teacher was so cool, he was all ¡®Knives are deadly and must not be underestimated.¡¯ and then he went on to demonstrate how to use knives! He was all shing shing and then he was like dancing a deadly dance, one move and you¡¯re dead!¡± Nel¡¯s smile and enthusiasm spread towards Lyle. ¡°I wish my day was as good as yours, we just had a short meeting before being dismissed.¡± ¡°Then you should have taken up knives, it¡¯s so cool! Maybe you can still change classes.¡± ¡°Nah, I like math and history. By the way¡­¡± Lyle and Nel talked silently all the way to the counter where they checked out the books. After going back to the shelves and picking up the right books, courtesy of the librarian, Lyle and Nel walked towards the sunset and into their room. No one was there yet. Lyle decided that this was the best time to talk about Nel and the missing people. ¡°Hey, I have to ask you something.¡± Nel tilted her head to the side. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Did you hear the news?¡± ¡°Dude, what news, there are like a gazillion things happening right now.¡± ¡°The one about homeless people.¡± The conversation cut, Nel stopped reacting for a second, his smile freezing. Suddenly his hand clenched and his face contorted, his eyebrows furrowing and his eyes blazing. ¡°Yeah, I heard.¡± ¡°Hey, Nel. Are you okay?¡± ¡°No darn it! I¡¯m not! What would you do if your family was taken one by one? Those people, the people call the trash of society. Every single one of them was my family. Would you be okay if nobody cared if your family suddenly disappeared?¡± ¡°No, wait, I didn¡¯t mean it that wa-¡± ¡°Of course you don¡¯t. I¡¯m just so angry. I tried to ask for help and all I got was a shrug and a sneer. It hurts when nobody cares about your loved ones.¡± Nel¡¯s face was suddenly wet, tears running from his eyes. ¡°Darn it. I wish I could do something and not be here. But this is my only clue and-¡± Lyle suddenly knew what to do and hugged Nel, rocking him back and forth just like what he did with his brother when he was hurt or when he fell of spot last month. ¡°Shh, shh. There there. It will be alright. The city will not let this go on. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re doing their best to find the culprits right now.¡± Nel just held on to Lyle and tightened his fist. He buried his head in his chest and let out a shout, a cry of pure anguish. Lyle continued what he did, rocking them both. After a while, Nel fell asleep and Lyle led him to his bed. He lied down on his and thought, sleep becoming elusive to him. His slender friend was hurting and he doesn¡¯t know what to do so he just thought of the things he might be able to do until sleep finally gave him a reprieve. Lyle woke up to the sixth bell and began searching for Nel. Lyle saw the bed was made and empty. Lyle decided not to worry about him for now and just took a bath. He prepared his clothes and towel then went to the bath he shared with his roommates. After dressing himself, Lyle went out to eat breakfast. He did his morning routine numb and unable to concentrate, even the food was less tasty than yesterday despite the food being the same. With the eighth bell finally ringing, Lyle headed to the courtyard. There he saw Nel already stretching. He decided to approach him and saw that Nel¡¯s movements became faster. Lyle waved at him. ¡°Um, hi! About what happened yesterday-¡± Nel decided to cut in. ¡°What happened? Nothing happened. Nope, nothing happened. I didn¡¯t cry like a baby no siree.¡± Lyle laughed at Nel¡¯s response. ¡°Really? The strong and witty Nel came up with that response?¡± Nel¡¯s face reddened, stopping his stretching and facing Lyle head-on. ¡°What about it huh? Do you think I¡¯m weak now? Huh!¡± Lyle looked at his olive-skinned friend and considered teasing him. ¡°No, I actually think you¡¯re strong. I would never know what I would do if my brother went missing.¡± ¡°Yeah, of course, I¡¯m strong. I lived in the streets darn it! Now! Let¡¯s warm up maggot!¡± Nel tried to copy their coach but failed and both looked at each other before laughing, the awkwardness finally dispelled. Chapter 5 Lyle watched as more than the usual amount of students for the basic body training arrived while he and Nel stretched. Lyle saw students that have beards, mustaches and more developed chests absent on 15-year-olds, the cutoff age for the enrollment exam. Lyle decided to focus on warming up and talking to Nel than to think about why the other freshmen were here, doing basic body training like them. Ten minutes into the 8th bell, Coach walked to the middle of the courtyard. Lyle followed him and so did the rest of the class. ¡°You won¡¯t need introductions here so we will start today but I have a few words. You can and will call me coach during the first two weeks. Surviving the first two weeks without the pills, trust me when I say that I will know when you use them, and you can call me by my name, which will be given at that time.¡± Coach began pacing, panning his gaze at the 400 odd students, before speaking once more. ¡°For the new students, the other students you see in this class are the ones who failed the previous year¡¯s class by being too weak or by cheating. Do not be like these failures.¡± The coach paused and Lyle took that time to look at the older students with new eyes, labeling them as the dregs of last year¡¯s batch and the training overall as hard to pass to have this many students. The coach continued as the new students finished their reassessment of the class and its students. ¡°To pass this test is easy, just don¡¯t quit or cheat. That is all. Now, give me ten laps! every time I pass you, you get to go another lap. Every time you pass me, You get one less lap. Start behind me. Go!¡± The Dark-skinned coach began running, pumping his arms and going in a, for him, a leisurely pace in front of the class. Lyle learned early on that arguing or complaining about the training was futile, and so did the rest of the class, as they started running around the courtyard with no preamble nor a single voice of complaint. The first three laps no one lagged behind the group, some of his classmates even started running faster and tried to catch up to the coach. By the fourth lap, people started to lag behind and the others started passing the coach. Lyle thought to try passing the coach too but thought better of it, he¡¯d just try to keep up with the coach for 5 more laps before attempting to pass him. By the sixth lap, students started flagging, most of them being ones who passed the coach a while back making the black-haired teacher catch up to them. Panic set into the students that were still ahead and made them run faster. The next lap saw the coach passing the exhausted students still ahead of the lap before. Lyle could hear his heart beating from the running, a phenomenon usually reserved for the last lap. Only seven laps in and some of his classmates slowed down enough that Lyle, still in the pack of runners, could see the coach passing them. The pack caught up to them in the eighth lap. As Lyle began passing the starting point, he ran as fast as he could without being too tired to finish the lap. During the eight laps they ran, Lyle lagged behind his coach and already Lyle struggled to breathe, just as most of the students did, and Lyle could already see coach a tenth of the way to the course. Lyle panted, his breath becoming even more labored as he struggled to go a bit faster to the approximately a tenth of a bell per lap jog. Lyle dashed passed the mack and broke away, feeling for the first time since the run the chill morning air. His extremities suddenly got colder and his breathing already labored, got heavier. Still, Lyle continued with his dash towards his coach, his back getting bigger and bigger. The curve from the oval track came and coach suddenly swerved, Lyle had been so focused on passing the dark-skinned man that he failed to notice the curve and lost a few seconds readjusting. The other students were not idle however as Lyle saw the shadows of the other runners at his sides. Nel, Chris, and Henry had all followed Lyle when they saw him pick up speed. Nel, winded but still jogging with an easy smile, ran up next to Lyle with an eyebrow raised. ¡°Hey, slowpoke. Are you okay? Better stay back, ¡®cause the real runners are here.¡± Before Lyle could reply, Nel ruffled his head and dashed off. Chris and Henry passed by him, getting a nod from Chris and "Good luck¡± from Henry. Not wanting to lose, Lyle pushed his legs into the ground harder. He ran faster but Lyle could feel his lungs freezing and his legs burning. And on he went getting closer to the coach as Nel passed the coach. So did Henry at the halfway point of the last straight before the last curve to the finish line. Lyle pushed, as hard as he could, not because he didn¡¯t want to go that last lap but because he wanted to win, to be exceptional. To be the best. And so Lyle did what he could and pushed himself like he did so many times in his life. At the quarter point before turning, Lyle was only a few paces behind his coach, the grass beside the oval track brushing against skin. He could only see the back of his coach, the dirt path, the sky, and even the other competitors becoming a blur, his eyes only focusing on the man in the pants and shirt jogging like he was on a nice stroll and not an intensive training session. Oddly enough while blurred, Lyle could see or rather could sense his surroundings, he could place his foot in a spot where there were no stray pebbles that could shift his balance. He could also count the people in front of him while not aware of them at the same time. Lyle could see the coach getting bigger and bigger.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. At the curve, Lyle finally caught up to the coach. But Lyle could see the finish line a few feet away. Lyle gave it his all, instinctively leaning to gain even just a little bit of advantage. Both began to turn, Lyle outside and the coach inside on the track. Lyle¡¯s strength was flagging, pure determination pushing him forward. His strength was waning and only his will pushed his legs to go from one foot to the other. Lyle passed the finish line, he and the coach was neck and neck but Lyle did not accomplish his goal. But that did not matter to him. Not anymore. In his addled mind, Lyle was only able to think of one thing and one thing only: passing the person beside him. So Lyle ran, he ran faster than he ever did and for a sliver of a second he gained his strength, a second wind. When asked by Nel later where Lyle gained the sudden speed he had, Lyle would be unable to explain what happened it just did. But for his coach, during the neck and neck race, he smiled for Lyle used his qi to temporarily replenish his stamina and permanently strengthen his muscles a tiny bit. Lyle cheered as he passed the coach, a bell after the class started, but in doing so he ran out of energy for the two bell class. Lyle ran for a few moments, going into the middle of the courtyard towards those that finished, almost dragging his feet from exhaustion. Nel, Henry, Chris, and a few others Lyle only vaguely knew to be his fellow new freshmen came to congratulate him, patting him at the back or saying their congratulations. Nel suddenly appeared next to Lyle making him lean on his shoulder and carrying his arm. Henry followed after a heartbeat. At the center of the courtyard, Nel and Henry let Lyle down. He lied down and stared at the morning sky. Lyle absentmindedly recalled what happened in the past two weeks. At the kalend of December Lyle had taken the test for the enrollment of the Abeseth Academy for the Gifted. It was just three days before the mid of January and already Lyle had experienced many things. And things will keep on getting more interesting from here. As Lyle¡¯s mind wandered, the people still jogged. While the majority would end on their tenth lap, other students got caught by the coach bringing them towards an eleventh lap and Lyle a little more time to rest. ¡°Maggots! Come here!¡± The coach went in the center of the field, just like all the other times. ¡°Now I¡¯ll give you 90 heartbeats before we proceed to the next activity. No pills or you¡¯re out!¡± Lyle¡¯s friends all went to a corner and decided to take a breather there. While they were together they did not talk to one another and just rested in companionable silence. ¡°Time¡¯s up! Gather and form twenty lines!¡± The coach bellowed his orders and the students followed his order as fast as they could. Failure to comply would result in another lap around the courtyard. Once the twenty lines were formed, the coach whistled and nine men and women arrived, some jumping from who knows where some walked seemingly from thin air and some just straight-up grew from the ground. ¡°These are my assistants, which you will call ma¡¯am or sir. They, together with me, will teach you exercises that will make your body stronger. We will do this for the rest of the class starting today until the end of the year. Am I understood?¡± Despite his fear of the coach¡¯s new assistants Lyle couldn¡¯t help but feel excitement at the possibilities of being a cultivator. The coach drilled Lyle and his classmates into the forms and stances of what he called the Agua fomar meaning water form. As Lyle and the others continued their study of the martial art, The assistants and the coach corrected and advised the student on their forms. Lyle felt the correction and the guidance of the instructors made this class more official than last week¡¯s training, which felt more rushed and more hectic. ---- - Lyle breathed in and out, concentrating on feeling his body, finding every nook and cranny of the tips of his toes up to the top of his head. As Lyle learned to meditate, Diana droned on about the feelings one should feel when concentrating on making a constant, pleasing noise that Lyle could either lose himself in or ignore completely. Lyle listened to the meditation teacher. How every breath coming into Lyle was making his heart beat faster, making his lungs swell and making his mind sharper peaking in the middle of breathing in and out and weakest at the end and beginning of breaths. Lyle concentrated, listening to his stomach and how it rumbles as his stomach ate his breakfast for the second time and how his qi runs through his body. Lyle could sense something vague. Something he could reach out but not touch no matter how far he reached. Lyle still had five to sense his qi. It would not be long until he had it figured out. The droning faded and Lyle heard the noise of his other classmates¡¯ breathing. The room felt empty and suddenly very large. ¡°Class, step out of meditation. We¡¯ll continue the lesson tomorrow.¡± Lyle opened his eyes and looked at the brown-eyed woman. Lyle looked at the teacher¡¯s face closely, something he couldn¡¯t focus on the first day due to him being occupied elsewhere. Despite her serious demeanor and emotionless attitude, Lyle could call her cute with her round face and her big upturned eyes. She still carried herself in a strict manner of course and her demeanor made her radiate authority. The next teacher, Teacher Mills entered and quickly Lyle and his classmates sat down. ¡°Now can anyone tell me what cultivation is?¡± The Mills looked around at her students¡¯ raised arms. She chose one, the same student that answered yesterday. ¡°It is the way to defy the heavens.¡± The teacher nodded. ¡°Good. Now ms. Mayfield, can you explain what you have just said?¡± Mayfield, a small and thin girl taller than Lyle nodded her head, her blue eyes bright and had that glint of intelligence only a few of the people have. Okay, maybe Lyle kinda liked her. A person can have two crushes, you don¡¯t know him. Anyway, Mayfield answered. ¡°From who I asked, to defy the havens is to actively do things that nature says is impossible. To pass a mountain in a single leap, to fly without wings.¡± ¡°Very good. Now can anyone tell me why meditation is important to cultivation?¡± Again the teacher looked at the raised hands and picked Nel. ¡°Oh, yeah. I totally know this.¡± Nel said, pumping his fist. ¡°Meditation is important ¡®cause like you said, it makes the connection with the body and mind stronger.¡± ¡°How is this important to cultivation?¡± ¡°Right. So when you make the bonds between your mind and body or something, you get stronger? Like maybe sensing qi is part of the process?¡± ¡°Very good. Now let¡¯s continue the lesson.¡±