- Sam -

The last few weeks had been rather monotonous for Sam. Every day he woke up, used the facilities, ate breakfast, then practiced his breathing technique. He would keep this up most of the day, only taking breaks to stretch, or walk around. He'd eat dinner, then go to bed. Andrew would usually stop by to check on him at least once a day, and Kyle liked to sit in Sam's room with him to cultivate, but they didn't talk much. Cultivating really seemed to draw their attention, even if they weren't using the Intense Focus technique. The difference was that they didn't lose track of time or get lost in it.

Kyle brought it up to Andrew once, mentioning that he used to run around quite a bit at home, so it thought it was funny that now all he wanted to do was sit still all day to cultivate. Andrew told them that this was normal for new cultivators. He assured them that they would get used to it at some point, but mentioned that they should take full advantage of it while it lasted, since it would help their progress.

Senior Hall had mostly ignored them after that first day, only coming by to ensure that they were practicing like they were supposed to. He would assure them that it wouldn't be long before they would start "the real training," telling them to keep up the good work with the breathing technique. The Senior avoided giving real advice, saying "it won't do any good letting you get too far ahead of those that'll come after you. Just keep doing what you're doing and it'll work out soon enough." Then he'd grin in a strange way, that made Sam uncomfortable.

When Sam reached the first stage of chi condensation, he only knew because Senior Hall pointed it out one day. The only difference he could find was that he had started being able to pull his chi towards that place Senior Hall had called a "dantian," just below the belly button. He wasn't sure what the significance of this was, only that it was a step in the direction he was meant to go.

Kyle had not reached the chi condensation stage, which Senior Hall said was because of his spirit root. "Once his spirit root grows a bit, he'll have an easier time just like you. You need to grow yours too, though. Just because you have a slightly better spirit root now, doesn't mean you have a good one. I'm not gonna show any of you how to do that yet, so don't worry too much about. Just keep doing what you're doing."

They talked to the girls at meal times, and it sounded like they were having the same problems. Sam wondered why the adults here were so persistently uninformative, but decided not to worry too much about it. Eventually he would go home, and his mother could answer any questions he still had. He wasn't sure when that would be, but if he behaved well like he'd been told to do, then he was sure it was just a matter of time.

Eventually Senior Hall gathered all the recruits from the dormitories over to the training hall. Sam hadn't kept track of time, but felt like it had to have at least been two or three weeks.

When he, and the other children, all arrived at the training hall, they moved into the courtyard with the packed dirt floors, and Senior Hall had them line up into rows. Then he started showing them the stances they would be learning. Apparently these stances, when performed in the correct sequence, became a form, and they were learning the stances for the first form.

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At first, Senior Hall had them perform the stances one at a time, while he corrected any big mistakes. Then he had them go through each stance at a slow pace, while he made corrections to timing, force, or fluidity of movement. Gradually, he increased the pace, until he was keeping the time with a stick, having the children switch stances every time they heard the thwack, usually followed quickly by a pained scream.

*thwack*

AH!

The stick doubled as a means of pointing out corrections. It was painful, but the children weren't likely to make the same mistake twice. The bruises they'd get, served as a reminder. Some of the other children cried, or scream for their their mommy or daddy. Senior Hall would just grin in that discomforting way, and keep going.

*thwack*

AH!

Eventually the cries of the children stopped, as everyone realized it wouldn't change things, or at least they got used to being corrected with the stick. They also recognized, after only a few days, how much faster they were able to cultivate since they had been practicing the first form. Several more children reached the chi condensation stage, and Sam was able to visualize more of the strange and chaotic pathways in his center. Sam also felt like his control over the movement of his chi was getting stronger. Moving chi into his dantian, like he'd been told to do, was becoming easier.

This became the new daily routine. Every day after breakfast, Sam and Kyle would go back to Sam's room to cultivate in silent company. An hour or so later, Senior Hall would come by to call the children over to the training hall. They'd then spend the day being beaten into correct form, until just before dinner time. They'd all eat dinner quietly, wash up, then go to bed.

After three weeks, Senior Hall made an announcement. The children were lined up in the courtyard, with their hands at their sides, and eyes forward. Senior Hall grinned. Sam shivered. "All of you have now reached Chi Condensation. Congratulations, you are all now Cultivators! As a reward for your valiant effort, we are going on a little field trip. As you may have noticed, none of your spirit roots have been growing. There is a simple reason for this. At your age, just as you need food to grow big and strong, so too does your spirit root need food to grow. You may be thinking, 'But, Senior Hall, we've been eating every day, and we even circulate our chi,' however there is still something missing. Something you could not have yet. The food you've been eating has been mortal food. It will still give strength to your bodies, but not to your spirit roots. However, if you had eaten spirit food without reaching Chi Condensation, you would have exploded, or melted, or turned into an icicle depending on what you had eaten. Hahahahaha!" Sam's eyes went wide. He didn't think this was funny. In fact it was horrible, but he was only a child, so he wouldn't dare to interrupt.

"If a mortal were born with a high grade spirit root, and they ate some spirit food, they might be able to instinctively circulate the chi that would enter their bodies, and would naturally enter Chi Condensation. In fact, our historians believe that may be the origin of the first cultivators, but that doesn't matter. The chi you have been circulating isn't even enough to be called a trickle. You've all begun moving it into your dantians, but it's so weak, that for your spirit roots it's like breathing through a straw. Yes, I know I just mixed metaphors, but now you understand, yes?"

"Yes, Senior Hall!" The children responded in reflex, although Sam, as usual, only understood some of what the Senior had said. "Does that mean that if I can move more chi through my dantian, my spirit root will grow?" Sam thought to himself.

"There is a simple solution to your problem! And simple solutions are the best solutions! That is why we are going to the forest. You will get practical survival training, you will hunt low grade spirit beasts, and then you will learn how to cook spirit meat. The meat you consume, if cooked correctly, will increase the chi flowing through your body. You will need to draw that excess chi into your dantian, where it will nourish your spirit root. Understood?"

"Yes, Senior Hall!"

"Good, then let's go to the flight pavilion."