I opened my eyes when I was standing on solid ground again. I was mostly used to the feeling of teleporting but the momentary nothingness was still creepy. It was hard to put into words but it was a bit like I was nowhere or I guess in between everything for a split second. I pushed the sensation to the back of my mind and made a beeline for my apartment. I had a new cultivation method to study. I was seated inside my cultivation chamber a few minutes later. A minute after that the information was downloaded into my mind. "That is still unpleasant." I groaned and rubbed my temples. The new method was incredible for lack of a better word. It was an upgrade in just about every way. It would let me cultivate faster, and recover my energy faster it also improved the potency of my attributes.

The last one was a whole can of worms that I wanted to explore. Unfortunately, the method didn't go into detail. Potency was a modifier on top of the percentage boost. I made a mental note to ask someone about it but for now, there was nothing I could do about it. The new technique was called the **Ethereal Codex**. Unlike the basic method, the codex had a percentage to go with it. According to the information provided, I could expect roughly ten percent per realm for an above-average manual. Which meant I should be dealing with around ten percent. Mine provided a massive twenty-two percent instead. It wasn't all great though, the manual was still unattuned which meant it wouldn't improve any of my attacks nor would it help me with the "Tao" whatever that was.

It was worth the effort to get it though and it was probably too much for me to get upset over benefits that I didn't understand. The only issue with this manual was that it wasn't a basic one, meaning that once I started cultivating with it I couldn't switch easily. I don't have my class yet so it wouldn't change my channels yet but once I locked in that choice changing to a new manual would be hard. The information included a small section on upgrading the manual but it didn't say much.

Despite this, it wasn't a hard choice for me to make. I was going to use the method. The System felt it would work for me and if it didn't I would just improve or change it. The information stone didn't say it was impossible which meant I should be able to figure it out. I closed my eyes and focused on the vivid information in my mind. I waited until I connected with the latent energy in my cultivation chamber and visual the vast emptiness of space.

I spoke the first verse of the codex, channeling my spiritual energy to form a vortex in the core of my dantian. I braced myself for the initial resistance, for my energy to be turbid and sluggish but it didn't happen. Instead, my spiritual energy almost leaped to be changed as if I had been practicing the method my entire life. I bit back a gasp as spiritual energy surged through my channels with a newfound vigor. The sensation was equal parts exhilarating and daunting. It was a bit like holding onto a live wire. I took another deep breath as I encouraged the energy to reach the vortex. I allowed the codex to guide my hands through the intricate hand seals, each one representing a different heavenly concept.

I reached the halfway point when something changed. I stopped forming the hand signs and fought a rising anxiety in my chest. I felt something on the outer edges of my perception. I resisted the urge to open my eyes. Something told me that what I felt was inside of me not outside. I brought my perception to my dantian but everything felt fine. The energy flowed faster than ever. I checked the rest of my channels and felt fine. Better than fine my body felt amazing. I pushed the worry to the back of my and restarted the hand signs. As I finished a full cycle I felt the sensation again, this time instead of running from I reached out with my senses. It felt like I had just dipped my finger into a vast ocean of power. I reached for it hoping the take just a small portion of it for myself but it faded. I reached for it with a renewed vigor, my cultivation session forgotten but it was as if I had tried to grab water my fingers. The more I reached for it the harder it was for me to get to it until the sensation faded.

I opened my eyes once I was sure that I had lost the sensation. Part of me wanted to start cultivating or meditating again but I could tell that the more I forced it the harder it would be to get it. It reminded me a bit of trying to force yourself to go to sleep. I opened my status screen in hopes that it would have something that explained it. "Just another thing I needed to ask someone about." I resisted the urge to scream into the void. Why the hell was there no information here? What I needed was a library not this spoon-fed bullshit. I allowed myself to mentally complain about it for a few more minutes before I left my chamber. My exhaustion had made itself known and I needed to get some sleep. I placed the cultivation methods into my new bag and then settled in for some well-deserved rest.

I awoke early the next day and quickly got myself dressed. I wanted to try and steal some of Aina's time for a few extra questions but when I tried to open the door it wouldn't budge. I tried to push and pull in hopes that I had somehow forgotten how the door worked but nothing happened. "Hello? I can't get out of my room." I called out hoping that either the System or one of the educators could hear me. I was just about to try attacking the door when it slid open and the volcanic man entered. I stumbled back a step in surprise.

"Good Morning Amari. I am sure you are curious as to why you are not permitted to leave your room." The man somehow managed to sound less enthused about this conversation than when he taught. "Your progress in your quests up until now has been impressive. Notably, you are leading your compatriots in the level and number of creatures killed. I am here to tell you that your aura has rapidly approached a level where you would be harmful to the weaker members of the tutorial. As a result, you are being confined here until the end of the tutorial or until you can suppress your aura."

I stared at him blankly as I tried to process what he just said. I couldn't resist puffing out my chest a bit at being number one in the tutorial. The part about killing the most things made me feel conflicted. It was one thing when I thought about them like faceless mobs in a video game but he had implied they were real, living things. Or well mostly living the undead felt like a weird grey zone. I pushed those feelings down into the pit of my stomach. Ultimately I couldn't afford to be conflicted about it. Either they would kill me or I would kill them and I had no interest in dying. The part about the aura was only confusing though. "I don't understand what you mean by my presence would hurt them. I am not going to go around and kill random people."

He let out a long-suffering sigh before taking a small red stone out of his robes. He placed the stone in his mouth and chewed. His jaws crunched on it with enough force that I was convinced he would break his jaw but he seemed completely unaffected. "We are aware that you would not hurt them as it violates the rules set out by the cosmic teacher. That is why you are being restricted. Many of your compatriots are still around levels one and three. They lack a murderous aura to defend themselves nor the willpower to brace against yours. As you lack the proper power to control it you would inadvertently hurt them. The System would likely consider you in violation of its rules and destroy you. Since you are the brightest star in your generation at the moment we would like to avoid a senseless death for you."

"Ok, but that doesn't explain what an aura even is. I don't feel any different and you don't seem affected." I decided to ignore the annoyance on his face in favor of not getting smitten by lightning or whatever else might happen to me.

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"You may consider your aura to be your presence or your signature on the world around you. Most things have some kind of aura outside of the base materials you are used to. This presence will grow in potency along with your power. When the power discrepancy becomes too great, your aura becomes a danger. I am much stronger than you are so your aura has little effect on me. Most children begin the practice to control their aura early on in their lives to avoid this issue."

"So it shouldn't be too hard then? What happens if I can't do it before the tutorial ends?"

"You will be confined here until that time. After which you will be returned to your planet, and the System would no longer protect you all so you would be in no danger of being killed. You would be free to do as you will though it is considered rude to let your aura flow freely in polite society."

"Alright, so how do I do it? Do you have an information stone or are you here to teach me?"

"It has fallen on me to teach you what it is you need to know. To begin with please enter your cultivation chamber. We will begin with visualization." He stepped into the room and walked straight for my chamber. I resisted the urge to call him back and have him wait for me to lead him. Since it was my house I decided against it. I had no idea how strong any of these people are and the slight disrespect wasn't worth the potential pain. I followed behind him and took a seat in the middle of my chamber.

"Now it helps for some to visualize their auras as an energy field that billows out with themselves at the center. A bit like a torch or candle."

"You mean kind of like a super saiyan?" I said with a grin.

"I have no idea what a saiyan or a super saiyan is but if it helps you then yes like a super saiyan."

I decided not to attempt to explain anime to an alien elemental person. Instead, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I immediately encountered a problem. Try as I might, I couldn't connect to anything. I imagined an energy field around me. I imagined the field filled with vibrant color, colorless, hell even tried imagining golden energy while screaming. Nothing helped. I was about to give up when I had a slightly different idea. Instead of imagining the aura itself, I focused on what I wanted to happen. I imagined myself as the focal point and then I took a deep breath. I pulled the energy around me into my body. It wasn't the same feeling as when I cultivated but something did happen. I focused on the sensation as I released my breath.

I lost control over some of the energy but repeating the process fixed that issue. I focused on my breathing for several minutes before I felt I had a hold on the technique. I could tell it wasn't perfect, It was a bit like using a muscle you didn't know you had but it was pretty good progress. When I was pretty sure I had it under control I opened my eyes expecting to see some sort of response in the man's eyes. Instead, he looked just as disinterested as when we first began. "Ah good you succeeded. You have excellent energy control. You should consider becoming an assassin."

I stared blankly at him. "I can't tell if you are trolling me or not," I said mostly to myself but he either hadn't realized that or didn't care.

"I am not sure what "trolling" is but I assure you that nothing you have done involves trolls. You will need to continue your practice so you can maintain it without conscious thought but you will be able to travel about as you see fit now."

"Uh before you leave can you answer some more questions, please? I have several, especially about auras."

The man took such a deep sigh that I was sure his lungs would explode but he answered after several seconds. "You may ask your questions."

"When we are transported from here for our quests are we going to real places or does the System simulate them?"

"The areas are real but the System is altering the creatures. You will not encounter any of the things you fight in the tutorial out of the tutorial. You also gain much more spiritual energy and System credits from the kills."

"Wait, wait what? I haven't gotten any credits from my kills." I pulled up my status screen to be sure and nodded when I saw the familiar zero.

"That is because they will be awarded at the end. There is nothing for you to purchase here so the credits would be worthless."

"Huh?" I nodded slowly as I processed the information. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. He wasn't wrong there wasn't a mall in here but the idea of someone else holding onto my money for me kind of sucked. "What happens to the people who died? I mean there money?"

"Nothing, they simply don't get it."

"Wait so how does the currency work? Like is there a central ba—" Before I could finish my question the man held up a hand. "No, no I am not here to discuss the inner workings of the multiverse and the heavens if you have questions related to your cultivation ask them."

I bit back the growing irritation in my gut as I asked my next question. "How does my aura work? You said it could hurt someone would I just release it? Or can it be used like a weapon?"

"The answer to your questions is yes. For now, your presence can hurt people who are weaker than you. Some people cultivate slaughter paths and rely on killing to get better. Those people learn to sharpen their auras into proper weapons. That isn't a path open to you yet so there is no need to worry about it but people in your situation tend to fall into such a path."

"What do you mean?"

"You all will return to your planet at the end of the month and you will find it changed. Most of the unworthy will have been culled. The few that have managed to hold onto a modicum of strength will have set up new towns and cities. Your return will upset that new order. Once that happens you all will begin a slaughter of each other. Before you ask, yes you will. The true test of the System will require your planet to have a single leader, not small warring fiefdoms."

"So the System will force us to fight until there is only one leader?" A complex jumble of emotions formed in the pit of my stomach as I contemplated what that meant. The System was treating us like prized fighting animals.

"No. The System's quest will only tell you that there must be one ruler of the planet within the year. How you get to that point is entirely up to you all."

I stared at him for a moment as a small ember of hope formed and then died in my chest. There was no way we would do that peacefully. We couldn't get along when there was a somewhat clear hierarchy of power. Now there wasn't. The public order was gone. Which meant there would be anarchy as everyone fought to fill that void. New countries would form but even that wouldn't bring peace. The earth never had a single entity strong enough to rule the whole thing. "What happens if we fail? If no ruler emerges after a year?"

"The System will have considered your task a failure. All humans of Earth will forfeit the chance to rule your planet and the planet will be opened up by the System. Invasion points will be spawned and the other forces will have a chance to battle for the world's resources. Before you ask I have no idea what would happen if after that there was still no leader."

We fell into an uncomfortable silence as I processed what he just said. We were fucked. Either we fought with one another gladiator style or we let ourselves be invaded by foreigners. If they were anything like us we would all be killed or enslaved or who knows what terrible thing. Even if we somehow defeated that force there was no way to guarantee we would be left alone. We might start an endless stream of invasions until we were all dead. "How do we go about building cities? Do we just do what we did on earth or do we need to get permission from the System?"

For the first time today, he looked unsure of himself. I raised an eyebrow expectantly but he took his time as if he was consulting with someone else before he finally spoke. "That is beyond the scope of what I can tell you now. You all will be told the answer soon enough though. It will be important for you once you leave the tutorial."

I asked a few more questions after that but none of them had interesting answers. He explained more about how cultivation worked to the point that creating my cultivation chamber was a high priority when I got back to earth. After that, he decided that enough was enough and left me to my own devices. I had neither will nor a reason to stop him from leaving. After letting myself calm down from the chaos this "lesson" left me in I decided to get back to cultivation. I needed whatever advantages I could get.