3 Chapter 3

Reys walk soon turned into a run as he was overcome by his own excitement. He was just given the basics to becoming a cultivator for free! Not many can say that they had the same opportunity as him. He made sure to honor the old man's requirement of Rey spreading the word of his shop. Of the people he told, only a few agreed to check it out. The others just smiled and thanked Rey for the notice. It wasn't Reys job to make people go, just to tell them about it so he didn't care much if they actually went.

Rey soon got back home and went straight to his room. He set the box on the table next to his bed and looked at the two books. The books were in fairly good condition. 'Basics of Cultivation' and 'Body Strengthening' were the names of the books. Rey opened up the second book and started to read through the first pages. The book was a quite on how to use the energy in his body to strengthen it. There was multiple levels to the skill and it progressively got harder. Rey was about to attempt to strengthen his body when he read, 'Recommended to be at 3rd Stage Earth Realm to Cultivate or Injury may occur'.

Rey was upset, seeing as he didn't know where he was at but he assumed he wasn't there yet. He begrudgingly set the book down and opened the other.

'All humans start at 1st Stage Earth Realm. Most humans cannot start cultivating till they reach the ages of 12-14, depending on the individual. To cultivate, individual must sit still and focus on letting all senses go and focusing on only the energy in the air around them. Then they must absorb the energy into themselves. Injury may occur if the individual is not yet ready to cultivate.'

Rey was now upset seeing as he wasn't old enough to cultivate yet. Judging by what the book said, Rey assumed that the person must hit puberty for them to cultivate. Rey could tell that he was not yet there. His body was too small and he showed no signs. He was just barely over 4 feet tall and still sounded like the girls his age. Rey had no choice but to wait until he was of age.

Rey set the book down and grabbed the box. He opened the box and saw an array of pills and a medallion with a note tied to it. 'I know you might be upset right about now seeing as you cannot make use of anything I have given you...so far. This here medallion is special, it was created by me specifically for one person. That said person will get all of my knowledge on cultivation. Eventually they'll be someone of great influence. I look forward to seeing you again!' The note was signed by the old man. Rey examined the medallion, trying to find out how it could do it. He put the medallion around his neck and immediately blacked out.

When Rey awoke his mother was by his side. She hugged him tightly and kept kissing his cheeks and forehead. "Are you ok sweety?" She asked, not letting him go. "Yes mama, I'm fine, I guess I was more tired than I thought?"

Rey looked down at his chest expecting to see the medallion but saw nothing. He looked over at the table next to his bed and saw the books and box neatly arranged. 'So it wasn't a dream then...' Rey thought to himself. He pushed his mom away and stood up. "I want to be the strongest cultivator mama! I want to be strong enough to protect you and everyone I care about!" Reys mom smiled and got up and left the room. "I'm sure you'll be the strongest someday, I look forward to it and I'll do what I can to help you achieve those dreams!" She turned the corner and left the house.

Rey sat down on his bed and crossed his legs, letting his arms rest on his knees. "The old man knows of a technique that I can use without needing to have cultivated at all. 'Spirit Gathering' is what it's called and it allows me to store energy in my body until I'm able to cultivate. This energy will help boost my cultivation speed at the start. He discovered this technique when he was 13. He couldn't cultivate till he was 14 so he had gotten a year of storing energy inside his body. I should have anywhere from 2 to 4 years of this so theoretically I should get stronger quicker than he did.

Rey let all of his senses go and focused only on the energy around him. At first he didn't know what he should be focusing on as he had no proper description of energy. It varies from person to person, its easier for some and harder for others. It seemed to be harder for Rey as no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find anything that could be perceived as energy. Rey opened his eyes after multiple failed attempts to find any energy around him.

Rey was sweating profusely. With nothing to replenish his body and mind he had overworked them and now needed to rest. He found himself laying in his bed and asleep soon after.

Rey woke later that day, as the sun was setting. He got up and looked around the house but couldn't find his mother anywhere. 'Where is she?' he thought to himself. Reys mother was waiting for him last night but now he was waiting for her. Soon a few hours had gone by and his mother had still yet to return. Against her wishes the night before, Rey went outside the house after dark.

The square was empty and all of the vendors were no longer there. The square was completely empty. The same street where he got the books from the man was barren. The shops were all boarded up. Rey walked down the street, confused by what he saw. 'Why is evrything boarded up?' he thought. Just then a loud screech was heard along with flapping of wings overhead. When Rey looked he saw nothing. His heart was now racing, nevertheless he continued forward. Eventually he reached the end of the street which led into an even larger open area surrounded by bleachers as if it was an arena.

Rey got to the center of the arena when a large creature landed behind him with a thud. Rey slowly turned around to find himself in the direct path of a griffin. The griffin was about to bite Rey when the griffin was hit by a ball of flames. The griffin screeched as it fell over on its side, but it wasn't defeated as it got up quickly. Men in armor came to the arena from another street other than the one which Rey came from. "Who is that?" one of them asked. "That's Prince Jasper!" another yelled.

The men ran towards Rey as fast as they could but three more griffins stopped them in their tracks. "Shit!" One of them said. The griffin that was hit by the fireball grabbed Rey with its claws and flew off with him. Rey was screaming and crying for help. He didn't want to die, he was just brought back to life. The men screamed as they defeated the other griffins. "We must tell the King that his youngest is gone." The man smiled, "his plan worked. The embarrassment is gone!" They cheered and cleaned up the griffins before running back where they came from.