The Spirits Shine on the Determined

After a couple of hours reading and spectating those in the dojo, Thirteen decided to head out.

"When cultivating and training aren't options, watching others definitely has some benefit. I feel like I have a vague idea of how everyone in the dojo fights now, and the weapons they're training to use outside of combat class.

'No point staying for too long though. That bloated feeling has gone away quickly thanks to the refinement pill, so I should be able to continue cultivating.'

Heading back to his dorm, Thirteen felt a great pang of hunger. In his eagerness to find something to do, he had put off eating almost all day.

Taking a detour towards the dining room, Thirteen then entered the adjacent kitchen and made himself a simple meal. While the children were all served rather extravagant meals three times a day, there was no rule against preparing your own outside of those times.

Sitting in the dining hall, Thirteen did not continue to read his book, but instead began to eat the meal before him quickly.

'...It's not great.' He thought. 'It's not made with the same ingredients the cooks use. There are no spiritual herbs or monster meats.'

Finishing what he couldn't help but think of as a bland meal, Thirteen then made his way swiftly back to the dorm, eager to make the most of the remaining day to cultivate.

And so, he concluded his day as it began. With him seated on the floor next to his bed cultivating the Fundamental Body Refinement manual and working on refining his blood.

When the next day came, Thirteen repeated his actions of the day prior. He didn't have a fundamental refinement pill left, so he couldn't spend quite as long cultivating. Instead he went to the clearing outside to watch those who trained there.

Among them was Four, who currently sparred with his helper as he usually would, without arms or cultivation techniques.

'I don't know why Four prefers to practice outside. Though I suppose there is more room.'

After watching for a while, Thirteen opted to sit in the much more comfortable dojo. After taking a seat with the same book as yesterday, Thirteen began to make use of his time studying those who trained and reading the contents of the book.

'According to this, It's believed cultivation can increase one's potential? So that's why Nicholas said cultivators can make the most of being a Meta?' He read on.

'It has been proved time and again that while a metahuman will awaken new attributes simply by aging through their natural growth periods, cultivation has a marvelous effect in speeding up the process.

'By cultivating, one not only increases their own potential as a metahuman, but also catalyses the flux within themselves to transform more rapidly. For this reason, breakthroughs or completions in cultivation stages often trigger an advancement in the mutation of a metahuman, awakening new attributes or greatly enhancing those already present.'

Thirteen had to reference the dictionary by his side a few times during his reading, but that did nothing to quell his growing interest in the subject.

He would have likely found himself lost in study, if not for a casual glance toward the dojo doors as they opened. There, he saw Eleven entering with a real sword by his waste and his strict-looking helper by his side.

'Oh?' He thought. 'Really, training or not, this dojo is just full of benefit'. As he tilted his head back down towards the book in his hands, Thirteen's eyes stayed focused on Eleven as he drew a sword near the other end of the dojo.

The sword was quite long, and curved. It gave the impression that it was quite thin, but upon better inspection, Thirteen realized it was just a trick of proportion.

Looking from the sword back to Eleven, Thirteen noticed the boy's face was quite pale, and his eyes had bags beneath them. 'What happened to him?' Thirteen thought without much care.

Elevens helper seemed to have no intent of sparring with Eleven, instead standing nearby to advise. Soon, Eleven began to swing the large sword around by himself, without target.

For once, Elevens movements seemed uncoordinated and unbalanced. 'What on earth is he doing? He look's like an amateur dancer holding a weight to heavy for himself' Thirteen teased inwardly.

After watching for a while, he came to a conclusion. 'He's not used to that sword. It's too long and too heavy for him. He's also trying to do some weird techniques, probably the forms of his cultivation art, but he's not at all used to them.'

Seeing the lackluster performance of Eleven, Thirteen began to feel a bit better. 'Perhaps pay back wont take so long to achieve after all' He thought as he got back to reading.

Hours began to pass until Thirteen once more felt himself able to cultivate. Heading back to his dorm, he again made some food on the way, before he finished his day with further meditation.

As the burning blood channeled through his arteries and veins quickly, Thirteen could feel his blood becoming full. It was a strange sensation, but he knew what it meant. 'Almost there' He thought to himself as his eyes opened. 'A bit more, and the qi will begin to overflow, unable to further refine my blood. That's the sign of Blood Refinements completion.'

Alas, he had done all he could for this day.

—

In the week that followed, Thirteen's leg wound had healed itself well. After two days of rest, and one further day without sparring, he was able to once again move and fight as normal. During Combat Training, Melia kept to her word and made his life a living hell of sword training, Though Thirteen was pleasantly surprised to realise this did not solely mean USING a sword.

While that was certainly part of it, Melia also put a lot of emphasis on how to deal with a sword while unarmed.

It was times like those that he truly appreciated the Helper system. He felt like Melia truly wished for him to succeed over the others.

During Theory Hall, the students were being familiarized with general terms and names they needed to know. For example, the names of the noble households, or the terms used to differentiate their ranks. No details about the nobility were taught to them, as it was still early, but general knowledge such as this allowed the children to build a framework understanding of the world outside.

In the cultivation hall, Nicholas would talk less on the cultivation world, and instead began to spend most of the lecture hall taking questions from the students about their own cultivation. Nicholas seemed to know each of the arts they cultivated intimately, and could always clear the doubts the children had.

Like this, the week came to an end with peer sparring once more.

Thirteen made no effort to challenge Eleven, but did pay attention to the boy's fight whenever he was free to do so. He noticed Eleven trying to incorporate the sword forms of his new art in the spar, though of course without the qi techniques that were banned.

By the end of the day, Thirteen, Eleven, Four, and Ten had each won all three of their spars, and were each awarded accordingly.

Thirteen stood with Four and Ten, a big smile on his face. "Congratulations" "Congratulations to you" "To you too good sir" they each exclaimed with their best 'noble' impressions.

The eighth generation now we're all getting ready to head back to their dorms, however Instructor Diores stopped them. "Hold it. I've not yet dismissed you, so where do you think you're going?"

Looking around at the children growing still and silent under his gaze, Diores continued. "It has been two weeks since you've all begun to cultivate your arts, and I can tell most of you are about ready to break through to the second stage of cultivation. I expect most of you to have done so within the next week."

He paused for a moment to let that sink in, before continuing "With that said, It's about time you learn to fight as cultivators. And so, I will now announce a list of changes to your training.

Firstly, From this moment onwards all weaponry will be allowed in the sparring performed in Combat Training. Furthermore, they will all be of blunted metal. You will not use a wooden weapon again.

Secondly, you may no longer use the dojo to train by yourself or with your helpers. Instead you must do so in this clearing.

Thirdly, private sparring is now permitted within the dojo. Private sparring too will be done with blunted metal arms, however you may also utilize the techniques of your cultivation art."

With the last announcement, a flurry of commotion erupted among the children.

'We can spar with arts? As long as it's a private spar?' Thirteen found his gaze turning to Eleven's direction.

Remembering the arts available to him once he completes the Blood Enrichment stage of the Grand Life Tome, Thirteen couldn't help but smile. 'The spirits truly shine on the determined.' he exclaimed in his mind.

"All right, now get lost. I've got other things to do" Diores dismissed as he began to walk towards the manor once more.

Thirteen could feel his blood pumping as Melia handed him a Fundamental Refinement pill for his winning streak today. "With this… I can break through." He declared softly.