"Kiro, you're going to need to be assisted with this ascension, since you don't know how to channel your mana yet."

Aer pulled out a red pill, handing it to him.

"Place that under your tongue. When we start, I'm going to draw on that to circulate your mana for you, ok?"

He took the marble-sized sphere, inspecting it. It felt dense, different from any pill he had ever concocted. Was this Saint-tier alchemy? He hesitated, but finally popped it into his mouth. He tensed, but nothing bad happened. It just felt a little warm.

"Awesome! Now, Seira and Rynn, you two are going to grab my right arm. Remember, hang on as tight as you can, you won't hurt me. Kiro, grab my other hand."

Once they were all in position, she closed her eyes. He nervously gripped her palm, not wanting to lose grip halfway through the process. Would they physically go up towards the heavens, or was it more like teleportation? As it turned out, neither.

He saw a flash of white, and suddenly it felt like his soul was being swept away by a raging river. He nearly let go in panic, but the Saint gave him a reassuring squeeze. That was when he noticed the fire flowing through him. This was mana! Mana was coursing through every fiber of his being, empowering his body and keeping it bound to his rapidly accelerating spirit. He tried to open his eyes, but found that there was nothing to open. He almost panicked again, but he could still feel Aer's hand, so he just hung on as much as he could.

After what felt like both an eternity and an instant, they resurfaced. He gasped for air, only to find that he could barely take a breath. The world seemed to weigh down on him, like a powerful mystic's aura. Immediately, Aer coursed more mana through him, steadying him with her other hand.

"Kiro! I want you to focus on the mana going through you, and bring as much of it as you can to your core. Now!"

He swayed again, but managed to focus on the fire mana. It felt harsh, angry, and hurtful, but with the Saint's strength it didn't dare harm him. It was like a wild animal, ferocious, but not entirely unreasonable. It could be controlled, if his will was strong enough. He focused on the mana more, getting a solid sense for it.

With an enormous effort, he forced the slightest bit to comply, dragging it away from the stream and into his core. Immediately, he felt a bit better. He focused on the stream again, taking another bit. And another. With each successive pull, he managed to gain a bit of strength, which in turn helped him grab even more.

Soon, he had developed a rhythm, pulling into his core on each inhale and expelling impure mana on each exhale. Wait, when had he started doing that? His eyes fluttered open, worried that he had done something wrong. To his surprise, Aer wasn't even holding onto him anymore, instead just observing his actions. Seira and Rynn were already adjusted to this new world, hurling lances of flame at each other a few feet away.

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The Saint gave him a broad grin, holding out a piece of bread.

"Ah, my wonderful apprentice, you've discovered how to cultivate! Look inside yourself again."

He did so, and was shocked to see that the mana was still flowing through him. His own spirit moved to push it along the paths the Saint had established, reining in the aspect with surprising ease.

"If nothing else, you'll have a perfect channeling technique" Aer said with a wink.

"The channels might feel a bit off, but that's because you haven't fully grown into what they're meant to support. Continue to practice like that, and you'll be far better off at later stages."

A bit off? If this was a bit off, he couldn't imagine what a perfectly fitting channeling technique would feel like. It already felt like his body was overflowing with power. That was when he realized that the pressure was gone. Or, perhaps it would be better to say that it was matched. Matched by an equally powerful pressure emanating from him. He had an aura! He let out a laugh and opened his palm. Without the slightest hint of resistance, a plume of flame blossomed into the air. He was a mystic!

He jumped backwards into a flip, only to realize that his mana-enhanced body wasn't quite as agile as he had thought. As he was about to plummet to the ground, a gentle brush of wind pushed him back to his feet. Another brought over the piece of bread Aer had been holding out.

"Steady there, apprentice. The first lesson of the mystic arts: no matter how strong you are, if you can't control that strength, it's worth nothing."

He nodded. Even if he was finally able to cultivate, he still had a long way to go before he was anywhere near Rynn, let alone Seira.

"Thank you, honored Saint."

He looked around, surveying their surroundings for the first time. It was night, but that didn't hinder his sight one bit. Dozens of moons dotted the sky, shining their ethereal light on the surrounding plain. A sea of lush grass stretched to the horizon, with only a few lone trees for company.

He glanced over to the other Paridisians. They were now sparring with flying swords, and while Rynn was clearly on the back foot, he was holding up much better than Kiro thought someone with next to no experience should have. Well, he supposed it was just more of that extraordinary luck.

He took a bite of the offered bread, realizing how hungry he felt.

"How long was I cultivating?"

Seira, just now noticing that he had awoken, crossed the distance between them in two bounds, tackling him. Was it just him, or did her hugs not feel as tight anymore?

"A bit over three hours. Oh, Saints above, you're actually a mystic!"

Aer glanced at them, a wry smile on her face.

"Saints above, huh?"

"Oh, sorry, it's just an expression we used in the Hong clan," Seira said, jumping back to her original spot. "You know, to honor you guys, and the Gods, and stuff."

"Ah, I see. Very interesting."

That brought them to something he had been eager to know since he had heard them talk about ascending.

"Honored Saint," Kiro interjected, "are we in the heavens?"

Rynn turned to them.

"I would like to know that as well. You said that you would tell us when Kiro awoke, and now he's awake."

“Right. Right.”

Aer floated up, onto a collapsed log. With a wave of her hand, a stack of pre-arranged sticks caught ablaze, and she motioned them over.

"Gather round, apprentices, because this is going to be a long story."