That is too Long

Vin Blake was still shocked by the information he had just received. Two weeks. It was two weeks. He took two weeks to break through to the Core Creation Rank. If people never found out about the Primordial System, at least they would be able to figure out something was off about his breakthrough.

He let himself digest the news and then looked at his parents; their reaction would determine everything. "What did you do while I was breaking through?"

"We got worried and called one of the Elders of the Lydon Family. He came over and inspected you. He said your breakthrough was fine, and the only strange thing was that you were taking too long."

"Everything was fine," Vin repeated in an elated voice. 'At least they will not associate my long breakthrough with having three cores and the Primordial System.'

"Yes, the Elder said that after inspecting your body and essence, everything was okay, except your essence consumption was a bit above normal," his mother said.

"The Elder said we should notify him when you finish your breakthrough. We will go and do that," his father added.

"Stay here and get accustomed to your new cultivation stage," his mother said with a caring smile on her face.

Vin's mother and father got up from their seats and walked out of their room to inform the Elder about their son's current situation.

Vin wanted to hide anything concerning the three cores and the Primordial System; now it seemed he could not start with a low profile. He could not help but wonder how he was going to get out of this situation.

'Speaking of his situation. What exactly is the Primordial System?'

Once again, the system read his mind.

"Primordial System; a system created to help the host cultivate.

Creator: Unknown."

Looking at the holographic screen, Vin knew he would not get a lot of answers from the system. What intrigued him was the fact that the system stated that its creator was unknown. The last time it stated that, it did not know his name. Now his name could be displayed.

'Why is it that the system's creator is mentioned as Unknown?' And the system replied with a holographic screen.

"The host does not have access to this level of information.

Suggestion: The host should improve their rank."

'Why does it keep referring to me as a host? It does not make me feel comfortable.'

The holographic screens blinked a couple of times and their contents changed.

"Primordial System; a system created to help you cultivate.

Creator: Unknown."

...

"You do not have access to this level of information.

Suggestion: You should improve your rank."

Vin studied the changes made by the system, and he could not help but think that the system changed the way it presented the information to suit his needs. At least that meant that the system understood his thoughts.

He wondered what he was going to tell everyone about the Path of Cultivation he had taken. If anyone asked, he would simply go with his initial plans and tell them he was an Elementalist. Now the only problem was to show them. He pondered the matter for a bit then thought.

'System, why do I have three Paths of Cultivation instead of one?'

"You follow the three Paths of Cultivation because you were meant to have three cores, and each core allows you to access a different path."

'Why was I meant to have three cores?'

"To follow the three different Paths of Cultivation."

'Who made it like this?'

"Creator is Unknown."

Vin figured that this unknown creator was, in fact, the huge man at the golden palace, but now that he had time to think about it, he also realized that he did not know much about him, which made things very tricky.

'Anyway, how do I use the powers of an Elementalist or anything else for that matter?'

"You have not yet learned any techniques."

'That is a valid point. I will leave this for later.'

Vin got up and walked around the room and found some food. He had not realized how hungry he was until now. He had spent two weeks without eating anything. He went on to eat the food.

As he was eating, he asked the system, 'How did I survive two weeks without food?'

"Your body was nourished with essence, and your bodily functions were slowed down to reduce energy consumption."

'Why did I take so long to break through?'

"The estimated time for creating the cores was delayed by a day. Following the analysis for creating and activating the cores, the time taken was sufficient because you had accumulated a big enough essence reserve."

Vin finally understood why it took him so long to meet the requirements for the Core Creation Rank. He cultivated diligently every day and put in more work than others, but he still took a long time to fill up the essence reserves when compared to the effort he put in.

He was not accumulating essence for just one core like everyone else; he was accumulating enough essence for the creation of three cores and activating them. At least he finally met the system's heavy demands without losing heart.

'So how long would it take for me to break through if I had normal essence reserves?'

"Approximating... Approximated time: 25 days."

'25 days! That is too long for a breakthrough to the Core Creation Rank.'

While Vin was stuffing his mouth with food and thinking about the system's opinion on how time worked, the door to the room opened. His mother and father entered and looked at him eating. They sat down and waited for him to finish.

When Vin was done eating, he looked at his parents, and they had worry written all over their faces. His mother looked especially worried, while his father had a grim look on his face.

"What happened? How did things go with the Elder?"

"The Elders of the Lydon Family said that it is unusual for someone to have such a long breakthrough," his mother said in a worried voice.

"They have decided to measure your strength. They will make the final announcement afterwards," his father said seriously.

"That is great. They are going to personally assess my strength. Does that mean I might get extra benefits if I perform very well?"

His question was met with silence. Slowly, he started feeling the heavy weight hanging in the air. He then looked at his parents with a serious expression while expecting an answer.

"The thing is, they believe you were never meant to be a cultivator."