Cultivation

The entire lobby was quiet.

All the hunters, who were previously whispering and sneering, were now just staring. They watched as Pola transferred a massive sum of money, and then they watched as the man in cheap clothes walked back to the counter as if nothing had happened.

Marco's mouth was still open. 'Forty-three thousand credits… for standing still… I am an accomplice to a financial crime, and it feels… amazing.'

Pola just grabbed his partner's arm and started walking quickly towards the exit. "We are leaving. Now. Before someone from the Enforcement Division starts asking questions we don't want to answer."

Back at the counter, the young woman was in a state of professional shock. She looked at the screen confirming the 30,000 credit deduction, then back at Luthra. 

She took a deep breath.

"Very well. Your registration and assessment fees have been paid in full. I will now explain the procedure."

Luthra just nodded.

"The New Hunter Assessment is held every morning. Yours will be tomorrow at 9:00 AM sharp. You must report to Training Ground 3 in the basement level. Please be on time, as latecomers are not permitted."

She paused, then continued. "The assessment consists of three parts. A strength test, a speed test, and finally, a mana output evaluation." 

"Understood."

"Good." The cashier seemed to relax a little. She reached under the counter and pulled out a single-page form and a pen. "Please fill this out completely. This will be your official hunter registration file."

Luthra took the form and walked to a small, empty writing desk against the wall. He scanned the fields: Name, Age, Address, Emergency Contact, Affiliated House or Guild. He filled them in quickly. For address, he put down his shabby apartment. For emergency contact, he left it blank. For Affiliated House, he also left it blank. He wrote his first name, Luthra, but when he got to the surname, he just stopped.

He stood up and walked back to the counter, handing the completed form back to the woman.

She took it and began to review his information, her pen tapping a checklist on her own screen. She stopped.

"Um, sir... Luthra. You seem to have forgotten to fill in your surname."

"I don't have one."

The woman's hand, which was holding the pen, froze over the form. She looked up from the paper, at his plain clothes, at his calm face, and then back at the empty box next to the name 'Luthra'. She did not know what to say.

"Ah..."

After a few seconds of silence, she just shook her head slightly and stamped the form with a heavy, official-looking device. "I see. Very well. The registration is accepted."

She handed him a small plastic card that served as a temporary pass. "Please present this to the staff at Training Ground 3 tomorrow. Good luck with your assessment, Luthra."

"Thank you."

He took the card, turned around, and walked out of the Hunter Association building without looking back. As he stepped onto the street, a familiar blue screen popped up in front of his eyes.

[New Quest Generated: Prove Your Worth] 

[A piece of paper and a number do not define strength. The Host must demonstrate his value through action.] 

[Objective: Achieve a rank of at least E-10 in the Hunter Assessment.] 

[Reward: Level down, Title Unlocked] 

[Failure Penalty: 50,000 credit fine.]

'A fine? This system is a loan shark.' He looked at the penalty. 'If I fail, most of my money will be gone. So, failure is not an option.'

He started walking back toward his apartment. He needed a good meal and a full night's rest. Tomorrow was going to be an important day.

On his way back, he passed through the city's main plaza. It was a wide-open space surrounded by towering skyscrapers, and on the side of the tallest one, a massive video screen was broadcasting the evening news. He usually ignored it, but a familiar set of faces caught his eye.

[BREAKING NEWS: LURIUS FAMILY CLEARS B-RANK GATE IN RECORD TIME!]

The screen showed a news reporter standing in front of a gate entrance. Next to her stood a group of hunters in pristine, expensive-looking gear. He recognized them immediately. It was his oldest brother and three of his older sisters.

'Ah, it's them. The family celebrities.'

The reporter was speaking with an enormous amount of energy. 

"An absolutely astonishing feat! The 'Lizard nest', a B-3 Rank gate that has claimed the lives of three separate hunter parties, has been completely subjugated by the Lurius siblings! Leon Lurius, you led the assault! Can you share your thoughts on this historic victory?"

Leon, his red hair practically glowing under the camera lights, stepped forward. 

"Historic? For others, maybe. For the House of Lurius, this was simply another day. The so-called lizard queen was a disappointing opponent. Its attacks were an annoyance, but they could not penetrate our combined mana shields. It was a simple matter of overwhelming it with superior firepower."

'Same old Leon. So arrogant. He probably just threw a giant fireball and called it a day. Simple, but it works when you have that much mana, I guess.'

Rebecca a woman with long silver hair, chimed in. 

"The key was our perfect coordination. We are a pure-blooded lineage. Our mana resonates with each other in a way that common hunters simply cannot replicate. This is the power of the Lurius bloodline."

Luthra just watched for another moment. 'So that's how they spin it. 'The power of the bloodline'. It's just a fancy way of saying they practiced together a lot. Well, whatever works for them, I guess.'

He turned away from the giant screen and continued walking. The news about his family was just noise, it had nothing to do with him anymore. He had his own problems to deal with, like the quest to reach E-10 rank.

He returned to his apartment and put the temporary pass on his mattress. He immediately dropped to the floor and began doing push-ups. After several hundred, he moved to a pipe on the ceiling and started doing pull-ups.

A blue screen appeared in front of his face.

[Continued physical training of this nature is now classified as inefficient.]

He let go of the pipe and landed on the floor. "Inefficient? This is what I've been doing for five years."

[Correction. Your physical conditioning created a vessel capable of withstanding the strain. The superhuman strength you exhibited previously was the result of a 0.01% power leakage from your sealed core. Your current training methods will now provide severely diminished returns.]

'So that god-geezer was telling the truth. It was just a leak.'

"Okay, so what's the efficient plan?"

[You must learn to control the negative energy that is now partially unsealed. It is recommended that you commence cultivation immediately.]

"Cultivation? Like in the fantasy stories?"

[The principle is analogous, but the execution is reversed. You will not be absorbing external energy. You will be acclimating to the void within you. Your core is a paradox, a source of negative power that functions as a drain. You must learn to perceive and direct its flow.]

'I have to do it. I can't just rely on what little I know for the assessment tomorrow.'

"Fine. How do I start?"

[Assume a comfortable seated position. Close your eyes. Focus on the most vacant part of your soul. Do not attempt to fill this space. Simply observe it.]

"Observe my own emptiness. Sounds familiar."

He sat down on the floor and crossed his legs. He closed his eyes and tried to focus inward. For several minutes, there was nothing.

'This is pointless. I don't feel anything.'

[Your effort is counterproductive. Do not search for a presence. You must search for the absence of a presence. It has been with you since your conception.]

He stopped trying so hard. He let his mind go blank. He just sat there.

Then, he found it.

It wasn't a feeling. It was just a space inside his chest that was completely empty. It was a perfect, literal nothing.

'Ah, I see. So this is my mana circle.'

A new notification window appeared.

[You have successfully initiated a state of Negative Cultivation.] 

[For each consecutive hour spent in this state, all stats will receive a minor, temporary amplification.] 

[New Skill: [Negative Cultivation Lv. -1] has been acquired.]

He checked the new skill.

[Negative Cultivation Lv. -1] 

[A unique meditative skill for a being of reverse energy. Allows the user to acclimate to and draw power from their own inner void.] 

[Current Effect: Passively increases the user's natural Stamina regeneration rate by 1%.]

'One percent isn't much, but a passive skill is always good. The stat boost for tomorrow is the real prize.'

He adjusted his position on the floor and closed his eyes again, focusing on the void. Sleep was a waste of time. He had work to do before the assessment.

'This is going to be interesting.'