3 Chapter 3: Learning the Fundamentals of Cultivation

Although Ares woke up far earlier than Aejaz, he decided not to wake him up just yet as they'd spent most of the night running. Ares was used to waking at the crack of dawn to work so a lack of sleep didn't really affect him, but there was no guarantee Aejaz was the same. After getting out of the hammock, Ares noticed a pill bottle on the floor with a little note next to it that read 'Heaven's Path Sect.' Inside was a healing pill of far superior quality compared to the one he took yesterday. If he took it now, the broken arm would likely heal by the end of the day. He decided not to use it, however. There was no real need to fix his arm immediately and the pill might serve a better purpose later on, Ares was somewhat of a loot hoarder in this respect. As the sect on the note, Ares was aware of it as it was the only one around, it was also the one he planned on joining with Aejaz in a few years' time. Ares figured the pill had come from the Elder he spotted yesterday and made a mental note to thank him at some point in the distant future.

Ares took a look around the nearby streets and concluded that they would stay empty for a while. It was still far too early and people were likely hung-over from the festival yesterday. He felt it would be safe to leave Aejaz alone for a bit while he went to go and steal some food. He would soon start leaving that up to Aejaz but, for now at least, he decided to let him rest up properly after last night and take it easy for a while. Of course, when the physical training started, he was going to be heavy-handed about it. 

Aejaz better enjoy this week-off while it lasts.

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Aejaz woke up to a rather satisfying smell. He sniffed and turned his head to the source to find Ares sitting on a dumpster while chewing on freshly baked bread. 

Ares chucked some bread at him and spoke, "Don't get used to this. Soon, you'll be bringing me food."

"Mhmm," Aejaz mumbled before almost falling out of the hammock. 

"Not a morning person, eh? You'll adjust in time. For now, though, eat some food and let me know when you're awake enough to pay attention because I'm not going to teach you the same thing twice." 

Aejaz began eating his bread in spite of his grogginess.

"By the way, if you need a drink, there's a pond nearby." Ares nodded his head toward a park of sorts.

"I… Think I'll pass." Aejaz finished his bread, stretched his bones and gave Ares a thumbs up. "Alright, what are you gonna teach me?"

"Everything. But first, we're going to tell each other who we are. It's not normal for two kids our age to be homeless living on the streets like this, especially not for a kid like you with such fancy clothes. I'm sure you have as many questions about me as I do about you so, tell me what you feel comfortable telling me, and I'll tell you what I feel comfortable telling you. Deal?" 

"Hmmmm.... Fine," Aejaz was hesitant for a while but eventually decided to comply. "I come from a long line of assassins. Apparently, my family is kind of a big deal and our clan runs a sect dedicated to assassination. My parents are assassins, my brothers are assassins, my sisters are assassins and I… Well… I'm 'incompetent'." Aejaz gave little air quotes as he said 'incompetent'. "My parents never really told me anything about cultivation specifically, they just said 'do this' or 'do that' and got annoyed at me when it didn't work the way they wanted it to. I could never do any of the things my family did. The only talent I ever had was stealing things. People would laugh and call me useless, after all what's the point of stealing things if you can just kill a person then take their things anyway, right?" Aejaz' head tilted downward slightly and he had a miserable smile on his face. "Eventually my family got fed up, labelled me a disgrace and kicked me out of the clan. Hell, they were so disgusted by me they even paid for transport to get me out of the city and as far away as possible so they wouldn't even have to ever accidentally stumble across me ever again. I'm not sure I even want to cultivate. Although I enjoy stealing, it's the reason I'm in this mess. Every time I steal something my father's disappointed face comes into my mind." Aejaz ended with a tired sigh.

Ares chewed on the last piece of bread and dusted his hands off before speaking. "I think I understand your problem, why you're inept at anything that isn't stealing anyway. It's actually your family's fault, but I'll explain that a little later when I teach you about cultivation. If you consider yourself incompetent, you can blame your parents for that. As for the issue of being unsure if you want to cultivate, well, honestly? That's your own problem. Let me just say that if you choose not to, in my opinion, you'll be a massive idiot. You're essentially only saying that, because your parents abandoned you, you're going to abandon the one thing you have left in this world as it's the reason you were abandoned in the first place? If anything, that should encourage you to stick with it. This is all that defines you now so, if you stop, what will be left of you exactly? Why stop now anyway? Just because you see some random man's face when you steal, you aren't even willing to try? He's already disowned you so stop caring about what he thinks of your stealing habits. It's not like if you stop doing it, he's going to magically appear in front of you and take you back. Let me tell you a little secret, you can't stop anyway. For as long as you live, you're essentially locked into thievery and, like I mentioned earlier, it's their fault. So, if I were you, I would embrace it. You already said you enjoy it. I think you should be a little more curious, no? Don't you want to know how far you can take that strange skill of yours? Hell, even I'M curious. If you're still unsure, think about it this way. Do your parents love you more than you love stealing?"

"Well, no. I guess what you're saying makes sense. Is it really their fault? That I can only cultivate this weird thievery magic, I mean?"

"Yes, and you should be grateful if anything. What you have is unique but, like I said, I'll explain that after. As for my story, there actually isn't much to say. I have one memory of my past life. I was born, I was chosen by the Stygian Zephyr, and then, finally, my parents opened up my chest and ripped my heart out, all in the span of a single day! Talk about living a full life… As my heart was crushed, all I heard was, 'Ares, you and the other children of the clan can fix this. Come back soon.' God knows what any of that means, but there's no point in fretting excessively over it. Anyhow, I barely remember my parent's faces, but I do remember the place of my death. There were ruins of what looked like a once-peaceful city. Everything was on fire and everything that wasn't had long since been burned down to ashes. I was reborn here in this corner of the universe and taken in by the Chen Clan as a slave, forced to fight for entertainment and made to do small, menial tasks. I held back on cultivating not only because I was forced to but because it would have attracted a lot of attention. I spent years training with stolen weapons left behind in the training hall after I cleaned the place. Eventually, I had a perfect opportunity to kill my young "Master" and leave." 

"You, uh, don't seem too upset about the whole parents ripping your heart out thing. Also, how are you even alive again? At least as far as I know, when someone dies, they, you know, stay dead."

"That's because you don't know much about this world. Although it's rare, there's most definitely treasures that can bring a person back to life. Before you ask, no, it's not because of the Stygian Zephyr. I'm not actually too sure about the specifics, but I think it might have something to do with my bloodline. I mean, I took one shoddy healing pill yesterday and a broken arm will be good as new in a week's time. I haven't even cultivated yet and the regenerative properties of my bloodline are this absurd. That being said, I have no plans of dying again even if my bloodline can potentially keep bringing me back to life. What are the chances it can happen more than once? Even if it can, there's probably drawbacks. I'll be able to learn more about my bloodline by cultivating to a certain point and that's what I plan on doing to learn more… I can tell by the somewhat confused look on your face this would be a good time to start teaching you by explaining what a bloodline is. To keep it simple, some people have special abilities thanks to their ancestry and/or race. What the ability is depends on the kind of person your ancestor was and which specific ancestors you inherit from. In some cases, the bloodline can be awakened if it's pure enough which will grant additional benefits."

"Ok, sounds simple enough. Do I have a bloodline?"

"Don't look at me, how should I know? I only know I have one because when my passive regeneration kicks in, I can feel it in my bloodstream. A bloodline isn't something you can force. If you don't have one, you never will. If you do have one, you'll find out eventually. It usually just kinda happens, and there's no specific timing to it, so don't sit around expecting it. That being said, you being able to steal without chanting for your magic is weird… It could just be a result of the way your magic was created and not anything to do with a bloodline, but I'm not the one who created it so I can't tell you"

"Can I steal your bloodline?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. As for what I'm going to teach you today, I'm going to tell you about cultivation realms, cultivation methods, pillars, aspects, and arts. These five subjects are the most important things you need to know about cultivation and the rest you can find out in due time when and where it becomes relevant."

"Ok, but is there really no way I can steal your bloodli…"

Ahem

"So, cultivation realms. There are eight of them… Well, there's actually more than that, but don't worry about that for now, that information is beyond you at the moment. Each cultivation realm has ten stages, after you climb your way up and reach the tenth stage you'll break through into the next cultivation realm and start from the beginning again at the first stage. Each cultivation realm will provide you with some kind of benefit, usually, but not always, an increase in physical abilities. The first four realms are a little different from the rest though as the order in which you complete them isn't set in stone. There are two different paths you can take at the start of your cultivation journey. You have to complete both parts eventually, but the order in which you do so is up to you. One part is focused on your meridians and your ability to use mana for magic, the other focuses on tempering your body. The first two realms are meridian conversion and unfettered flesh. Unfettered flesh is self-explanatory as it just makes your flesh tougher, increasing your physical strength. Meridian conversion is slightly different though. Everyone has meridians but, until you enter the meridian conversion realm, they aren't capable of converting mana in the air into the magic you see people casting. Meridians also aren't capable of storing mana until you enter the realm too. Essentially, you have to choose between physical strength or the ability to use magic. After you complete one realm, you can start on the other OR you can continue onto the successive realm. Both meridian conversion and unfettered flesh have a realm that follows it and can only be accessed once you've completed the realm before it. After unfettered flesh is skeletal structuring, after meridian conversion is meridian expansion. Both successive realms are similar to the ones before them but provide even greater benefits. All four realms must be completed before you reach the linear realms, but the order is malleable until then. The most common order is meridian conversion, unfettered flesh, skeletal structuring, and lastly meridian expansion. There are some body temper-ers and weapon maniacs that do the two physical oriented realms first, and there are some mages and healers that do both of the mana related realms first. It's up to you and your preference. Well, I say that, but you're already on the meridian conversion path."

"So, what would you recommend I do after?"

"I think the common approach I mentioned earlier is best for you. I'm guessing that your thief magic doesn't use much mana, so expanding your meridians won't be as important as your ability to run faster if you happen to get caught."

"Sure, I'll keep that in mind, but I'm only at the 3rd stage of meridian conversion and my progress is slow, so it will probably take me a while to get to the next realm anyway."

"That depends, your cultivation might not be as slow as you think it is. This is related to cultivation methods and what I mentioned before about your family forcing you into this path. This all leads quite nicely into cultivation methods, so I'll teach you that next. There are three typical cultivation methods to choose from to increase your stages, the first of which is standardised cultivation. It's called as such because it was handed down from ancient times and, for many years, was the most optimal, easy method to use for just about everyone. You can cultivate in seclusion with the aid of various resources and that's really all there is to it. You put time in, you get stronger as a result. It's the most well rounded of the three cultivation methods and can only really be described as standard, although it's incredibly boring as a result. The second option is variety cultivation, it's for people who like to spread their interests. It allows for a person to cultivate and use a wider range of 'pillars' and 'aspects'. The issue is that it slows down your cultivation speed overall, so it's slower, but more versatile in combat and for general use."

"What are pillars and aspects?"

"I'll explain that in a second, but keep what I mentioned in mind. You wanted to know why this whole situation is your family's fault right? That's because they made you use the third cultivation method. In recent years, the third cultivation method has seen a drastic rise in usage and has basically become the new standard for many people. The third method is dedication cultivation. To keep it simple, it makes you considerably better at the things you're already good at, but completely incapable of doing anything else. Your parents likely picked this for you thinking that there was no way anyone in the family would ever have a lack of talent in assassination-related "aspects". By the time they realised they were wrong, it was far too late. It's called "dedication" for a reason. Your entire cultivation will forever revolve around whatever it is you're naturally inclined towards, such as stealing in your case. Even the way you actively cultivate will revolve around your natural talents. For you, although you can cultivate in seclusion or use treasures, it would probably be faster if you just went around stealing things."

"Huh, so it really wasn't my fault? They even slowed my cultivation by trying to prevent me from stealing because it brought shame to the family?" Aejaz kissed his teeth.

Ares gave a sympathetic smile. "Pretty much."

"What method will you use, Ares?"

"Dedication cultivation, I refuse to use anything else. I don't care if God himself descended and offered me a primordial cultivation technique that would make the ancients drool. It's dedication cultivation or no cultivation."

"What the hell kind of magic do you use to have you so riled up?"

"Well, before I tell you, it would make more sense to talk about pillars, aspects, and arts. The types of magic people use can be classified into pillars. For instance, a flame magic user is said to be a practitioner of the flame pillar, and a water practitioner cultivates so he can control 'aspects' of the water pillar. There exists a definitive list of pillars but, honestly, there's far too many to go over off the top of my head. We'd be here until my arms healed if I tried. Aspects are essentially more specific categories that come under pillars. Take the water pillar for example, it has three known aspects. The first is the ice aspect, I shouldn't have to explain what manipulating ice magic is. The second is the flow aspect. This aspect offers more control over water and allows for the shaping of it into weapons, animals, and so on. The last is the surge aspect. This is less about quality and more about quantity. Surge aspect specialists can create massive tidal waves to launch at people, plus they typically dabble in the fire and lightning pillars to create scalding and shocking destructive waves. In your case, you and your family have a long history with the darkness pillar. Most assassination-related aspects come under this pillar. When you were born your parents probably checked you for affiliation with this pillar and forced dedication cultivation upon you when the testing came back positive. The issue is that you have what's known as a 'unique' aspect under that pillar that no one has ever had before. Every now and then, someone will be born with the ability to use a unique aspect that doesn't match up with any of the standard, well known aspects. Yours, I'm guessing, is the unique aspect of thievery and, although it comes under the darkness pillar, it seemingly has absolutely nothing to do with assassination."

"So, my parents were just really pre-emptive and it backfired terribly?"

"Yes, if they had known, they most likely would have had you use variety or standard cultivation so you could still practice the other aspects despite not being aligned with them. As for which of the two you would use, it depends. Everyone is born aligned with a specific pillar but, on the flip side, everyone is born with a pillar or two that they have a negative affinity for. These pillars cannot be accessed through standard or dedication cultivation and require the use of variety cultivation. That's why I mentioned earlier that variety cultivation is versatile as it's the only method that allows you to use almost all known pillars. The drawback being that you'll cultivate much, MUCH slower"

"Not that I want to, but can the cultivation method really not be changed?"

"Not if you pick dedication cultivation, no. At least not as far as anyone has ever discovered anyway. You could change if you'd picked any of the other two methods though. This also doesn't mean there aren't ways of utilising other pillars, but that's quite heavily reliant on rare treasures, so don't concern yourself with that for now. Before I move onto arts, I should mention that there are some pillars anyone can learn, even if they use dedication cultivation or have a negative affinity with them. These are called 'open' pillars. Some examples are the alchemy, gadgetry, haemomancy, weapons, and technical pillar."

"What's the technical pillar?"

"The manipulation of mana into attribute-less magic; it's magic that anyone can use regardless of their affinities to other pillars. These magics are referred to as 'technicals'. Think of things like the ability to walk on water, or to fly. Although they have no attribute, you can still make elemental based technicals. It's to help people find specific magics that fulfil a certain need or want by virtue of its adaptability and the fact that it's an open pillar. The technical pillar is also the only pillar with no aspects under it but it's actually not very common to see people using technicals as they're hard to create and learn, so don't worry about it too much. Lastly, we have arts. These are specific means of manipulating magic that grow as you do. While everyone has their own interpretations of aspects and how they should be used, arts are a commonality that almost everyone will learn. The function of an art will typically not be any different from person to person even if the way they control their aspect is fundamentally different from one another. The reason everyone learns them is because they are only really limited by your power output, which of course increases as your cultivation realm and stage does. Sometimes people will have unique arts that they themselves have invented with their own little quirks, but it's usually a good idea to familiarise yourself with the common arts at least so you know what to expect in a fight. For instance, the 'Water Bullet' that guard used yesterday is an art of the flow aspect which comes under the water pillar. If his cultivation were higher, he could fire bigger bullets, more of them, and make their overall speed much faster. That art is fairly common for water pillar users who are familiarising themselves with cultivation and is a staple of the pillar."

"I think I get it. Pillar, then aspect, then art. Each is more specialised and specific than the last. But now I really wanna know which pillar and aspects it is that you're so obsessed with and want to use dedication cultivation specifically for."

Ares' lips curved upwards into a mischievous grin. "I'm a bit special, actually."