Chapter 3: The First Steps

"Cultivation?" That actually was a word I was familiar with, but only from fiction of course.

"That's right!" Her smile was so bright I thought it might rival the torches on the wall. She tilted her head slightly, "You can't read?"

Pity?

I grumbled softly. "I can read, just… not this."

Her eyebrow arched slightly. "Oh? And what can you read then?"

I froze for a second. Does my language exist here? Or is this one of those 'everyone magically speaks the same language' situations? I decided to skip the mental rabbit hole.

I shifted on my feet before trying again. "So…" I stretched the word, "you never said your name."

Thankfully, she answered, ignoring my apparent illiteracy. "Thea." Her voice was soft and steady, but the change in subject did seem to dampen her a bit.

"Thea. Nice name." I looked to the other trainees in the center of the room, already grappling roughly with each other. "You know anyone here?"

She shook her head lightly in response.

"Well, we're stuck together anyways, so let's help each other out." I offered with my best smile.

She took a step back. Her expressions seemed almost offended… or repulsed, I was struggling to tell. "Don't be gross."

"What?! When did I ever do anything gross?"

She paused, shooting me a strange look before rolling her eyes. "What can you offer me?"

Hmmm, good question. What could I offer her? I came here with only the clothes on my back, but they had seen better days. "Uhhhh…" I glanced at my hand. "Want an extra book?"

Well, that might be the most dumbfounded look I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing.

She again, rolled her eyes, but softly chuckled too, a small smile creeping on her lips. "If you want to know something, just ask, you don't need to give me anything. Like you said, at least for now, we are in the same situation."

I hesitated for half a second, then pushed forward. "Soooo, can I ask you something?"

"You just did." Her voice was flat, but I caught the subtle curve of her lips. She definitely thought that was hilarious.

"Right. Can I ask you som—" Almost ran into that one. Let's just go for it.

"What exactly is everyone talking about when they say 'system'?"

"Wha?" Her head tilted slightly, like I'd just asked her what water was. "A system's a system."

…Helpful.

"And you don't have one?"

Her posture shifted ever so slightly like I'd hit a sore spot.

"Sorry, I don—"

"It's fine." She cut me off before I could finish. "Don't you want to know about cultivation? For now, it's the only way we have a chance of surviving here."

That last question was filled with hopeful expectation.

Not wanting to ruin my chances at making what was so far, the only potential friend I had, I decided to comply. "It does sound fun… Can you read the book to me?"

She shook her head, but smiled brightly again.

"I can teach you better than it can." She firmly established.

"Alright. Then I'm counting on you."

She definitely pepped up even more, nearly bouncing with excitement. "Great! Take a seat."

I did, sitting cross legged as she moved behind me.

A small hand pressed against my back.

"Whoa!"

Her shocked yelp made me jolt.

"What? Is something wrong?" My heart leaped at the sudden rise in pitch.

"What? Oh, no, just… where did you get these clothes?"

I exhaled. She must've touched part of the cloth peeking through the leather gear. "I'll tell you later. Magic first."

She huffed. "It's not…" A long sigh. "Whatever."

A moment later. Warmth.

It seeped from her palm into my back, then moved, flowing downward, pooling just above my stomach.

Then it grew.

A slow, steady current, like a second bloodstream awakening inside me.

It raced through me. Hot, electric, alive.

My breath hitched.

It felt… unreal.

Something inside me, something I hadn't ever known existed, but now knew had always been there, had just woken up.

I opened my eyes slowly and met Thea's gaze. "Th—that was incredible. The power. The pressure, all in me!"

I took another sharp breath as she smiled. "Thank you… Though most of it was my power. Want to know more?" she teased, her mood somehow even brighter.

I nodded eagerly. Of course I wanted to know more. Who wouldn't after discovering something like World Force existed? A form of power that could… Well, I wasn't quite sure what it could do yet.

She walked in front of me, sitting perfectly across. "Close your eyes."

I obeyed.

"Alright. The first steps are pretty simple… deceptively simple, actually. But they're hard to get right in practice. First, you need to sense your Inner Force."

"Focus on what you felt before. I'll be right above your stomach. That's your Nexus. Your power flows from there."

I sent my mind inward… or at least I tried. I'd felt it just moments ago, but it had been stronger then. Probably because most of that had been Thea's power, not mine.

But it was still there.

A tiny spark, flickering in my Nexus. Barely noticeable, but real.

"I feel it, Thea."

"Good." She took a deep breath as if preparing herself. "Let me explain the Nexus more in dept—"

"I think 'very mystical' works just fine for now." I cut in, "Let's just stick to the basics of the basics first please."

"You don't want to know more?" I felt a hint of disappointment in her words. She must really like talking about this stuff.

I sighed, opening my eyes a peek, "Of course I do. But my 'master' needs to go slow for me."

"Well… If you're so slow—"

Hurtful.

"—I guess I can explain the details later." I could see that smirk.

*Ahem.*

She cleared her throat at a failed attempt to hide her amusement.

"Let's move on then. After Internal Force is World Force. Focus on the feeling from before. Concentrate on it."

Her words faded into the background as I closed my eyes and honed in on my spark.

"Extend outward. The feeling is not the same, but similar."

Her voice was barely a whisper now.

My skin tingled, a prickling sensation creeping along my arms and legs, like something crawling just beneath the surface.

"—orce."

I only caught the last word before I was surrounded.

I couldn't see it, but I could feel it.

Like small streams of slick oil, brushing against my skin, flowing around me, occasionally breaching the surface slightly, but doing no harm. I shivered, but not from fear. It wasn't painful, just… different. Alien.

And yet, I felt drawn to it.

Deep in my Nexus, a hunger stirred.

But I knew too little.

So I opened my eyes and found myself staring straight into two wide, steely-gray eyes. The flickering torchlight cast tiny sparks in them, mirroring the surprise on Thea's face.

"Peter, did you sense it?" she asked, her voice edged with awe.

"Uhhh, yeah, I think so." Unless there was some other mysterious power I didn't know about yet.

"You may be sl—"

"Hey!"

She ignored me. "—But at least you have some talent… in energy sensing at least. You did in a few minutes what took me an hour."

I couldn't help hearing the bodies slamming against the mats only a few meters away.

"Not to mention you focused even with all that noise." She commented. "I must be a really good teacher."

"Yeeaaah, right…" I encouraged dryly, trying to hide my shaking shoulders.

"Now that you can feel it, the next step is absorbing the World Force. That's when you really start cultivating."

"Alright. Great. Sooo…"

"Do what you were doing before."

I refocused.

"It should be instinctual," she continued. "Rotate the energy around your Nexus. Oh, and be careful. Take in too much, and you'll—"

She puffed up her cheeks and popped them, making a small, high-pitched pop sound.

I chuckled at the cute gesture. "Very funny."

Though, oddly enough, she wasn't laughing, or if she did, the sound faded too quickly.

Alright, so just move it? Simple enough, right?

Turns out, it actually was. It took a lot of focus, but I locked onto the tiny spark of power and willed it to move. It budged just slightly.

Progress. Excellent.

Encouraged, I pushed further. A slow rotation.

Then more. I moved it in a small loop, and that's when I felt it, a pull. Light. Weak. But real.

For a moment, the slick, oil-like force brushing against my skin responded.

So I amped up the effort. The ember spun faster, looping several times, and a warmth began to bloom inside me.

It was working.

I was actually absorbing World Force, at least, according to Thea. Better than the nappers anyway.

It wasn't the same as the pressure I'd felt from Thea's Internal Force, but there was power in it. It just… didn't feel like mine.

And since I felt no discomfort, no cap, nothing stopping me, why stop now?

A few seconds flew by.

Or maybe longer. Hmm, I wond—

"—er."

What was that? 

"—ter!"

Huh? What's interrupting such a nice experience? Wait… I feel a bit sick.

"PETER!"

"AHH! What? What's going on?"

I snapped out of it and met a pair of concerned silver eyes. And immediately, the nausea hit hard. Thea grabbed my arm and yanked it up. "I told you to be careful. Look at you!"

That wasn't right. Arms aren't supposed to look like freshly boiled crabs, right? stared at the angry red color creeping up my skin.

"What part of pop did you not understand?"

"You were serious?" I tried to imagi—nope. Not doing that anymore. I shook the thought out of my head.

She looked genuinely dumbfounded.

"Why would I joke about that?" Then, without waiting for an answer, she gestured sharply. "Come on. Do some breathing techniques to calm the energy down."

Breathing techniques?

"First we have this, and now I'm supposed to know breathing magic? I mean, how the heck should I know how to do that?!"

Thea froze, her head tilting slightly followed by the subtle curl of her lips.

Her shoulders shook.

She bent over at an obvious but poor attempt to hide what came next. "Breathing mag—"

*Pfft.*

With that tiny failure of restraint, the floodgates burst open.

She doubled over, clutching her stomach, laughing so hard tears welled in her eyes.

"You did no—" A wheeze broke through her laughter. "Did not just ask me how to breathe!"

Her laughter echoed in the small classroom.

Two heads lifted from their desks, glaring in annoyance.

But she didn't stop.

"Well?" I protested, feeling my face heat up. "You mentioned breathing techniques right after teaching me magic. What was I supposed to think?"

Thea wiped her eyes, still chuckling at my apparent comedic genius.

"One," she said, stifling another giggle, "Not magic. Two, it's just to calm down. Breathe however you like, as long as you don't start hyperventilating. It's not even totally necessary, just a good way to calm yourself down"

"Oh… got it."

I'll try to bury this memory deep, deeeep down.

"So… now that I've done all that… am I, like, stronger now? What's next?"

Still smirking, she rolled her eyes so far I thought they might get stuck in the back of her head. "Now you have to convert it into your own power. Mold it, shape it. Otherwise, it'll eventually dissipate from your Nexus."

She took a deep breath before expanding. "The energy you gather isn't just magic power that sits in your belly and turns you into a legendary hero. You need to work it, then circulate it, diffusing it around the body.

"Sounds great. What happens when I do? And how?"

She stood and I imitated. "You'll get stronger, and… Heavy exercise, but my favorite way, what I find most effective. Combat."