His pitiful pleas to his uncle had not worked either. His only living blood relative had refused to provide extra for his poor and sad little nephew. The older man was afraid to "spoil" him. He did not want to interfere too much between the sacred bond of a disciple and his Master. Suna Ranil must have said something to Koriss. Some dumb idea about motivation and drive. Excuses to watch Myrkas and his subordinates suffer as they choose the hard way to power. The only way Master Ranil believed in. As if sacrificing taste buds gave any concrete advantage to these poor victims he called trainees...
Myrkas took a deep breath. He should not let himself get angry before his Assessment. It was in bad form, surely. Better to stay calm. The picture-perfect image of a young, thriving cultivator. The youth readied himself. His definitely not shaking hands passed the leather cord around his head. A light breeze filled with the sharp scent of Piercing Jade Grass ruffled his long-ish hair. The draft was a relief against the summer heat, even with the boy sitting in the shade of the Sorrowed Silver Willow. Snow was perched between his legs, ever his steadfast cultivation companion. Her sister Lilac had deigned to join them that afternoon, probably to take advantage of the spiritual clover growing near.
His three goats were too busy grazing around to pay attention to his progress. It was fine. It did not make him sad. Not one bit. They were goats. The boy did not expect them to understand the importance of this moment. Not really.
Finally ready, Myrkas circulated his Qi a touch faster. He watched as the amulet reacted to the purposefully moving energy. Its runes lit up in a golden-orange glow. This time, Myrkas did not need the assist of Satine to depress the correct buttons. He almost laughed at the recent memory.
The shimmery letters appeared, to Myrkas' delight.
[Assessment Complete]
[Report]
Name: Myrkas Hakhmir
Age standard: 12
Race: Human
Constitution: None
Bloodline: None
Spirit Roots: 2
? Water at Silver level,
? Air at Wood level,
? no other above Mortal level
Meridians: Trivial
Dantians:
? Upper Near-gate closed Far-gate closed
? Middle Near-gate closed Far-gate closed
? Lower Near-gate closed Far-gate closed
Soul composition: 63% Yang 37% Yin
Qi types detected: 1—Undefined
Warning, soul damage detected. Dual fused reparation detected.
Realm: Mortal
stages:
- Body plane Qi gathering step 8
- Qi-plane Qi gathering step 5
- Soul plane Qi gathering step 3
Detected techniques:
- Meditation, self-made, Breath centred, air-based–Copper level
- Sea Star Regeneration, self-made, water-based—Wood level
Skills:
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Qi:
- Internal Qi Manipulation: Novice
- Qi-Sense: Junior Adept
Martial:
- Unarmed combat -Novice
- Evasion -Junior Adept
Crafting:
- Alchemy -Beginner
Social: None
Artistic: None
[Report Completed]
Numbers had gone up. What a marvellous day. Myrkas stood on the second to last step of the first stage of body cultivation. A little more and he would pass his first significant hurdle on the way to personal power. Three steps in one month was adequate—not that the boy knew the usual rate at which one was expected to climb those steps. He assumed he ran with the middle of the pack, maybe a little ahead if he dared to be optimistic.
It wasn't like people screamed their stages and steps out loud when they met. Those things were hard to assess without an in-depth scan of a cultivator's energies. While knowing what to look for. Myrkas did not exactly know yet what constituted a step or a stage. The difference between physical Realms was easier to notice. According to his uncle, that was when one intermeshed their three planes, connecting their being more intimately than solely through their three gates. And it was marked by a Heavenly Tribulation. A big lightning bolt to "test" their worthiness and refine their self. Something impossible to miss, basically. Not subtle like going up a small step.
And also quite deadly. One needed at least one completed core, technically a proto-core until the Earthen Realm, to keep in one piece through the tribulation. One strong core to be able to survive. A shattered core meant death unless one had an intact spare. To form such a proto-care, a cultivator needed to open the near and far gate of one of his dantians and then to do... something.
Myrkas was not certain what. He had not asked many questions about it. It was not like he was going to form a proto-core anytime soon. He had ample time to figure it out. Minimal risk to mess it up for now.
Still, it was an exciting development. Myrkas could look forward to the next stage of body cultivation. To be able to break rocks with his bare hands. Maybe he should aim to squeeze an orange at first. It seemed easier to achieve, less likely to bring disappointment. Crushing rocks was something one worked up to, not a starting point.
The boy had also succeeded in building up his Qi plane cultivation. An immense feat, considering one should not be able to before at least one near-gate was opened... Not that it mattered. A win was a win, end of story. Just like his meagre soul cultivation, Myrkas decided not to worry about it. It was not because the answer might scare him. Of course not. The boy merely had better, more pressing things to reflect on.
Like his brand-new regeneration technique! Myrkas smiled brightly, giddy at the confirmation of his unparalleled genius. He had made a regeneration technique all on his lonesome. No fancy manual required. It did not matter at all to him that it stood at the lowest level possible. He had made it. Inscribed it himself inside his very being. A technique good enough to be recognized and named by the Assessor!
In hindsight, he wondered why his homemade meditation technique did not have a name. It was at a higher level than the regeneration one. It could not be because the Assessor lacked inspiration, could it? Surely not. Such an ancient and knowledgeable tool had to be able to come up with an expertly clever name for Myrkas' most awesome "harder, better, faster, stronger" cultivation technique. It was not like copyrights existed here... All it needed was a cool name for when the boy would be ready to share it with his future disciples. A truly profound name to go with such a truly profound technique. Myrkus was convinced the Assessor would eventually find something appropriate.
In conclusion, he had made progress most everywhere, just as Myrkas liked it. Out of intellectual curiosity, he verified if the artifact had any further details on his revolutionary technique. The name might seem self-explanatory, but one never knew about hidden surprises. Or vice. The orange letters rearranged themselves in the air at the boy's request.
[Sea Star Regeneration – Water based]
A passive Qi technique that helps the practitioner rebuild and regenerate their physical body.
Rank: Wood
No further specifics detected by current assessment.
Myrkas did not let himself get disheartened by the apparent paucity of details. He had half-expected as much. The Assessor was not one to provide much information in general. Hence Myrkas was not surprised it kept to the basics with a never-before-seen technique. It was undoubtedly the first of its kind, a truly unique, never-seen-before technique. Only Myrkas could have ever made it.
The boy was brought back to reality from his self-congratulatory inner monologue by a relentless twitchy nose bumping against the artifact. Looking down, Myrkas saw Snow pawing at the priceless object with a determined air. As determined as a fluffy white bunny could look like.
"Hum... Do you want to try it, Snow?" the boy asked tentatively.
The rabbit nodded back. She actually, quite clearly, nodded back.
Of course, she nodded back. She was his rabbit. The rabbit of a young cultivation genius also had to be a genius. It was self-evident. Beyond reasonable. Nothing to warrant any kind of surprise. Snow was his senior sister after all.
The boy removed the artifact and passed it to Snow, carefully setting the leather cord around her slender neck. The necklace adjusted itself as best it could. The small size of its new wearer did not help the task whatsoever. Artifact in place, Snow slouched between Myrkas crossed legs. The wood-like amulet lay on her fuzzy belly. She seemed way too comfortable and relaxed for a wannabe spirit beast. Weren't they supposed to be fearsome forces of nature? The main threat to cultivators in the wilds?
It took some time for the glowing writing to rearrange itself once more. The boy tried to keep his excitement hidden. He had not been sure the artifact would work for his senior sister. After all, Myrkas did not know if the magical "software" required any adjustment to function with animals. The boy would not expect the artifact's ancient creator to account for genius lagomorphs.
Myrkas waited for the results with bated breath.
Finally he would know if Snow was actually more advanced than him on the Path of Cultivation. He might be a tad jealous and resentful that she was the favoured disciple instead of him. While he understood he could never be as cute as her, he thought his higher potential with weapon handling would garner him more favour. More things to teach, a higher chance for him to carry on his Master's legacy and all. Wasn't that why Masters took in disciples? To share their legacy, to be immortalized for posterity? To add their disciples' feats to their own? Myrkas wanted to know why Master Ranil believed Snow had more hidden potential than him. It gnawed at his insides a bit, the situation a little too reminiscent of the one with his father and his older half-brother.
The boy did not remember much "pre-fire." What he did recall, however, about training with his kin, carried the heavy stench of resentment, jealousy, anger, and helplessness. Pain suffused his vague memories. Snark and cutting comments still hurt him; the words forgotten but the original intent still sharp. It pressed on his chest and disquieted his belly. Even after months since their deaths, the hurt remained. A wound still raw he tried his hardest not to poke at. To keep it hidden and away, covered by makeshift bandages. No need to monitor its healing process, it was better left alone and forgotten.
Shaking his head, Myrkas refocused. The Assessor was almost done, ready to reveal Snow's secrets. The boy would know then: who was ahead in their friendly race to absolute power?