ch.3 a taste of cultivation

following the man into the principal's office, Adam was shocked at how big it is.

from the outside, the building was no bigger than a studio apartment, yet on the inside, you could have fit a large track field. not only was it big, but the walls were covered I'm marble. something that would have cost a fortune nowadays.

a woman walked in and was directed to a chair

" Please sit "

taking a seat in the directing chair, Mike looked to get a good look at the lady. she had light brown hair down to her shoulders, big blue eyes, fair skin, and a curvey body. surely any man would fall in love with her.

" so, I've been told you don't have paper " the lady began

" umm... yes, that's correct" Mike answered.

" well, that's a pain in the ass" the principal sighed. standing up she grabbed a stack of papers, a pen, and a weird triangle. " if you would please tell me your name"

" Mike Rutherford the second" he recited

* scribble, scribble*

" okay. could you please hold this" She demanded

grabbing the paperwork that she handed him, Mike had a puzzled look as they truly only had his name on them.

" Is this all I need?" Mike questioned

" don't be silly, we still need your status" the lady mocked while walking to Mike. "lay the papers on the table please"

doing as she said, Mike was shocked she knew about the status menu.

[ hey system, I thought this menu was special to me only.] Mike yelled in his head

[ of course, it isn't, after all, I'm not the only one to give people systems. but I can assure you, you are the only one with a system on this plane] the system confirmed

[ then how does she know about my status ] Mike asked

[ do you think I'm the one who came up with a status sheet?] the system mocked

" Rutherford!" Mike snapped back to reality. " it would do you well to listen, now put your hands around the triangle" the principal scolded

looking back at the table, Mike says that the triangle had been placed down in the center of the papers that she handed him. placing his hands on the triangle Mike was only confused.

" go ahead, insert some of your spiritual energy" the principal encouraged

Mike struggled. " uh, how am I supposed to do that"

" geez, did your parents teach you anything"

Mike was about to retort before he felt her hands lay on his shoulders, and a second later he felt something foreign enter his body. his hands were still on the triangle but nothing happened.

" Hmm, must be an old one," the principal said. " if you would, wait here until come back"

Mike looked confused but still nodded in confirmation. stepping out with a sigh, the principal left Adam alone.

[ so I'm assuming that triangle reads my status] Mike thought

[ basically, but it will never work on you unless you insert your spiritual energy.] the system replyed

[ why's that?] Mike asked

[ I not only gave you a system but increased your rate of growth, along with your spiritual absorption] the system explained

[umm, could you say that in English please] Mike asked

[ you dimwit, it's simple. you grow your stats a lot faster than most people, including your spiritual energy.] the system snapped

[ but spiritual energy wasn't one of my stats!] Mike retorted

[ that's because your body wasn't introduced to it yet. I'm sure if you checked it now you would see it] the system replyed

getting excited about a new stat, Mike pulled up his menu and went to his stat sheet.

{ Mike } ( human ) level 1 + 0

{ strength } ( 1 )

{ durability } ( 1 )

{ intelligence } ( 1 )

{ vitality } ( 1 )

{ health } ( 10 )

{ spiritual force } ( 2 )

{ spiritual energy } ( 4 )

looking at his status, Mike immediately had questions.

[ so what's the difference between spiritual force and spiritual energy?] Mike asked

[ you can look at it like this. spiritual energy is how much you have and spiritual force is how much you can use.] the system said

[ why can't I just use it all] Mike continued

[ why can't you lose all your blood huh] the system became snarky

" Thanks for waiting, anyway let's try this again" the principal walked in with another triangle, again placing it on the paperwork and her hands on Mike's shoulders.

feeling the sensation of the spiritual force entering Mike, he tried to reverse it out of his hands.

( - 1 spiritual energy )

a translucent menu notification appeared in front of Mike.

[ hey, what's the big deal ] Mike thought

[ don't worry, it regenerates] the system assured

" excellent, it seems it's working this time," the principal said.

Mike looked back at the triangle and saw a soft grew glow penetrate his hands. this must be what spiritual energy looks like in use.

Mike began to remove his hands but the principal stopped him.

" if you remove your hand the process will fail," the principal told Mike. " and that's an explosion I would rather not clean up"

" explosion!? this thing explodes!" Mike said a little too loudly.

" yes, unfortunately, this energy conductor takes roughly 5 minutes to complete your status recognition," the principal said.

" but don't worry, I'll be feeding you my spiritual energy so that you won't run out" she assured.

looking at the papers, Mike saw words beginning to scorch themselves onto the paper. it was only five minutes but to Mike, it felt like an eternity.

when the triangle stopped glowing the principal took her hands off Mike's shoulders and returned to her desk.

" damn, you sapped my energy," the principal said with a yawn. " anyway, your class is listed on the back sheet, with your status being on the front. now get out of my office"

standing to take his leave, Mike thanked the principal and walked out of the building.

looking at his papers, Mike saw his classroom was listed as C-3. it was in the third school building behind the A and B buildings. Mike assumed A was the best with C being the worst, and of course, he was correct.

walking to his class Mike noticed that the A building was marble just like the principal's office. the B buildings were made of stone, and the C building was made of wood.

" looks kinda like an old-school dojo," Mike remarked.

the building was very simple and small. the inside had bamboo wallpaper with sliding doors. each class was marked by a sign above its door, there were no bathrooms but there was a water fountain. finding his class, Mike opened the door and walked in.

all eyes were on Mike as he walked toward the teacher.

" papers?" the old man asked

" Hey, you're the same guy who brought me to the principals" Mike realized while handing him his papers.

" It appears so," the man said without taking his eyes off Mike Papers

" pretty average, well let's see, you can sit in the back with John. John, give Mike a preview of what we've done so far" the mas said.

"yes sir" some kid replyed in the back

Mike took his papers and walked to the kid who responded. he had blond hair, a slightly crooked nose, freckles, and pale skin.

Mike sat next to him. " don't get out much do ya?"

" hu?"

" never mind. so what did I miss?" Mike asked

John looked at Mike suspiciously. " well, other than a guide on manners. all he's told us so far is about this next month. he said we will be learning the piercing punch this week, how to control it the next, how to integrate it into weapons, and then a class trip into a dungeon" John got giddy at the end

" a dungeon huh? what dungeon will we be going into?" Mike continued

" don't know. I'm assuming it's based on our comprehension of the piercing punch." John guessed

" comprehension?"

" oh, were you not there for orientation. well, comprehension is rating how well you can use the skill. with assimilation is how far beyond perfection you can push the skill" John explained.

" how do you push something past perfection?" Mike asked.

" hell if I know," John said

" well now that we have gotten Mike caught up, let's go ahead and start today's lesson. " the teacher began.