- Sam -

When he woke up, Sam felt refreshed. He was still holding Kyle's hand, and he noticed that there was thread of intertwined chi moving between their palms. He then realized that he was cultivating, and through his chi, he could feel that Kyle was cultivating as well. Had they been cultivating in their sleep? Was that why he felt so refreshed?

He realized that Kyle was also awake, and had probably woken up at the same time. He could sense some of what Kyle was sensing, but it wasn't as intense as it had been last night. He checked his chi flow, and felt Kyle do the same. They were each circulating their chi through the other's pathways, allowing it to mix along the way, and circulate through their dantians, before it returned to their own bodies. However, their personal chi never entered the other's spirit root. He felt that he could make his chi enter Kyle's spirit root with conscious effort, but he decided against it. Sam still wanted to wrap his mind around the experience they'd shared last night.

It was a strange thing to think someone else's thoughts, and to have them think yours in return. He saw from two sets of eyes, and heard from two sets of ears. It was a lot to process. It also made him feel comfortable, though, like he was back home.

Sam almost started to cry again, when he thought of home, but Kyle put his free hand on Sam's shoulder. Right, they were still holding hands, so Kyle must have sensed it. In fact, he knew he had.

Sam suddenly felt embarrassed. He'd been acting like a baby in front of the older boy, and he almost did it again. He knew the older boy didn't mind, but Sam minded. He wasn't supposed to do anything embarrass his family. There would be no more tears. His parents had told him to get strong, so that's what he would do.

He also needed to learn how to write, he realized. If he couldn't see them again, then he could at least write them letters. The Seniors had already promised.

Without needing to say anything, the boys both got up at the same time, and went outside to cook their breakfast. Sam noticed that a lot of the children weren't up yet. He saw Emily, and Ava, and he, and Kyle, joined them.

Sam noticed that Ava was watching him, and wondered what that was about. She could be strange sometimes.

When they finished eating, Senior Hall approached them.

"Greetings, Senior Hall," they all said, as they stood and bowed.

"Juniors Platt and Werner, come with me."

"Yes, Senior Hall," they both said, and made to follow him.

Emily spoke up, "Um, Senior Hall, please forgive for speaking out of turn." She gave another bow and waited for his response.

"What is it, Junior Stiles?"

"Sir, if I may ask, what happened to the children who attacked us yesterday? We told the Grand Ancestor what happened, but some of them were severely wounded."

"Oh, that? Well, there's no helping it. I believe they offended the Grand Ancestor by not following the spirit of the assignment. You were meant to catch your own tree bunnies, not steal them from other recruits. Catching the tree bunnies allows you to apply the form that I've been teaching you. It would be fine if you cooperated to catch them. It also would have been fine if they had defeated you, and demonstrated their ability. Instead, they tried to take what they could not earn on their own, and then they shamed the sect by failing to even to do that. The Grand Ancestor did not give me her reasons directly, so I speak only of my own opinions, but I believe those actions were what offended her. You would do well to avoid making the same mistakes."

"But, Senior Hall, what happened to them?" Emily asked, somewhat impudently.

"She ate them, of course." Senior Hall said, as if it had been quite obvious.

"I knew it," Ava mumbled. Sam and Kyle weren't surprised either, given what Sam's parents had taught him about spirit beasts, which Kyle now knew, too.

Emily looked like someone had killed a puppy in front of her. "I... I see.. Thank you, Senior Hall."

"Junior Stiles, you look disappointed, so I will tell you this now. Cultivators can live much longer than mortals. I am three hundred years old, and I am considered young. However, cultivators also die frequently on their journey. This would not be the last time someone you know dies. Don't cry for those who would have killed you over a meal. They don't deserve your tears."

He paused for a moment and looked over each of them. "Oh right, you just finished eating spirit meat again. Even thought it's taking longer, the chi will start flooding your bodies soon. You should start cultivating to prepare."

"Yes, Senior," they all said.

"But not you two. Come quickly, you don't have much time to waste." He indicated Sam and Kyle. They followed him into his tent, and the space was a bit cramped with an adult inside. The Senior sat down and told the boys to sit with their backs to him. He put one hand on each boy's back, and told them to begin cultivating.

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Sam found that he still had some of Kyle's chi mixed in with his, and circulating it along with his own, gave him better control over the new chi as it flooded in from the spirit meat in his stomach. The flood wasn't as powerful as it had been last night, but soon Kyle's chi ran out, and Sam realized that without it he was starting to lose control of the chi. He hadn't had this problem before. No matter what he tried, it felt like the chi was going to overwhelm him.

Senior Hall interrupted him, speaking quickly, "both of you hold hands, and start circulating chi together, like you did yesterday." Even as he directed them, he was moving their hands together. When their hands touched, their chi reacted almost on its own. Sam could feel how Kyle's chi had been reacting the same way as his, but it hadn't been any worse than his.

Now that they were sharing chi, they were quickly able to regain control, but they weren't able to absorb the excess chi. This was a problem, since the chi kept flooding in. They tried moving their chi into each other's spirit roots again.

The effect was immediate. They were disoriented, and having difficulty focusing on their chi. They heard Senior Hall say, "Use the Intense Focus breathing." Sam did, but like last night, Kyle kept using his own breathing technique. It worked to help them control the distractions, but did not help them with their chi. "Junior Werner, use Junior Platt's Lesser Spirit Root breathing technique. You should have his memory of it." Kyle found that he was able to use it, and when he did, they finally had full control over their chi. Their spirit roots began soaking up the excess chi, and while their spirit pathways and dantians had expanded again, they were now back under control.

Once all of the excess chi was absorbed, Senior Hall told them to stop, so they did. He told them, "I'm impressed. You taught yourselves this technique by accident. You were lucky. It usually takes years of trial and error, testing, and retesting, for a cultivator to discover a new technique. Although this isn't a new technique, it is one that you've never been taught, so it's new to you, which makes it just as impressive.

"Now, I'm going to teach you what I know about this technique, which isn't much. First of all, it's called the Two Bodies, One Mind technique. It's also sometimes referred to as 'twin cultivation,' but that's not entirely accurate, because anyone can learn it as long as you're compatible. Which brings me to another reason why you're so lucky.

"It is incredibly difficult to determine compatibility for two cultivators to use this technique. Twins can almost always use it, siblings can sometimes use it, and every now and then close friends can use it. There's a lot that goes into compatibility, but most cultivators won't even attempt it, unless one of those three things applies to them. You two might have been friends, but you've only known each other for a short time, so it's impossible that you had already formed the bond necessary to ensure even a small chance of compatibility. Which is why I say you were so SO lucky. If you had not been compatible, you would have caused serious damage to both of your dantians, and probably crippled your cultivation permanently. The only test for compatibility is to try it and find out, and even twins sometimes destroy each other's cultivation in the process. Nobody would normally be reckless enough to do what you did.

"With that said, you've done it, and it worked, so congratulations. You now share a very strong cultivation technique. It's not the best technique, but I doubt I could have taught you a better one at your age. As a matter of fact, it seems that thanks to this technique, Junior Werner's spirit root has improved to the same level as yours Junior Platt. The exact same level. Which is consistent with what I just learned by monitoring your chi absorption just now.

"You are now dependent on each other for cultivation. You might, eventually, be able to cultivate on your own again. I've seen twin cultivators who do. However, I don't know the details, so for now, just know that you will have to dual cultivate in order to cultivate at all. I'm sure you both noticed the problem when you tried to cultivate separately just now, right?"

They both nodded, "Yes, Senior."

"Good. Now, there are a variety of methods for practicing dual cultivation. I don't know much about it, like I said, but I do know that it's easiest to do when there's some kind of physical contact. So for you two the easiest ways will be to hold hands, or to sit with your backs together. It's the same as when I put my hands on your backs to sense your chi. I can sense your chi flow from a distance, but physical contact gives me a better picture of exactly what's going on. Does that make sense?"

They nodded again, "Yes, Senior."

"This is very important, so if any of it confuses you, just tell me. I won't consider it rude right now, since I've given you permission."

He paused and gave them each a considering look. Sam thought he understood most of it. Maybe his cultivation with the older boy had made it easier for him to understand the Senior, or maybe he was just making more sense than usual. There were some words he didn't know, and bits that he didn't fully get, but nothing he felt like he needed to ask about, at least. It was a shame, really, because he normally had so many questions, but couldn't ask for fear of being rude.

When Kyle didn't speak up either, the Senior continued, "For now, you'll just need to practice, and figure things out on your own. It's good that you can already practice separate breathing techniques while your spirits are merged. That will come in handy later. For now, though I want you to practice merging your spirits, without relying on the Intense Focus technique. As long as only one of you uses it, you have my permission to use it as a last resort, if you feel like your mind is going to break. It's better, though, if you don't need it. When we get back, I want you to only cultivate where there is a Senior who can check on you. Since you'll be mostly cultivating in your rooms, I'll talk to Andrew, so he'll know to check on you more often.

"That's all I know, and all I have to say. You can keep cultivating after you eat in the camp, since the other Seniors and I will be here. Actually, you'll have to cultivate if you don't plan on fasting! Hahahaha!"

Sam thought the Senior was being strange again. If "fasting" meant "starving," then he didn't think that was very funny. Kyle didn't either.

"Alright, get going."

Senior Hall sent all of the children back into the forest. They continued hunting tree bunnies for the rest of the week. By the end, most of the children had a considerable excess of tree bunny parts to sell for contribution points. Senior Hall had assured them that they would now be served spirit food in the cafeteria, so there was no need to hang on to the meat they'd preserved. It would be better off in the hands of an experienced chef.