Everyone had told Nil that only Schema-recorded training manuals could be brought to Earth from the Nexus Market. Except for soul weapons, everything purchased from it was for quests, and the Nexus stored it when the Summoned returned to their home world. Apparently, the Moon Rabbit Emporium had the ability to overcome such limitations.

The clothing, healing serum, and burn ointment remained with the Nexus. However, the black lacquer case and Qi absorption ring in his welcome package came with him. The Schema also copied all the scrolls and books in his welcome pack so he could access them whenever he wanted.

Pill Absorption Manual

Cultivating In A Barren Realm by Helga Lyndon

A Guide To Spirit Companions.

After returning to Earth, Nil first took a taxi to the local garden center. He bought a two-foot by one-foot rectangular plastic pot and a similarly sized stone trough. The former comfortably fit inside the latter. Nil didn’t want water and waste leaking through the first container and dirty his room. Next, he grabbed enough mulch to fill it—the pack contained worm eggs, which would hopefully serve as food for his new companion—and plant feed pellets. The person by the counter was nice enough to give him a few free seed packets. They seemed unbothered by the fact that he’d stayed in the store past their closing hours. However, he had to sign a few autographs before leaving.

Once back at Golden Aegis, Nil had a quick dinner. He caught a glimpse of Xiang. Unfortunately, she fled as soon as she saw him approaching. He got the hint and didn’t pursue her. She had her arm back, and that was good enough for him. It absolved Nil of some of his guilt.

The receptionist in the accommodation lobby gave Nil a weird look when he entered carrying his purchases. “The cleaning staff won’t be happy if you get dirt everywhere,” she said.

“I just want to add some greenery to my room,” Nil lied. “Doesn’t anyone else keep potted plants?”

“You mean the kind of things that die if they get stuck on a long quest? People decorate their rooms. But they limit themselves to cacti and succulents when it comes to greenery. You better find someone willing to take care of it when you’re away.”

“Understood.”

Once in the privacy of his room. Nil excitedly set up the trough and the pot before emptying out the mulch sacks. It brought back memories of his mother. She adored gardening, and most of the household greens and herbs came from her little vegetable patch. Nil often helped her while he was still young, but the visits dwindled after Aisha’s passing, and even more so once he became a chef. The vegetable patch died within a few months of Elizabeth Gibson-Roy.

Nil buried a few seeds in the mulch and also spread the plant feed pellets through the mixture before letting his spirit companion out. The Ironroot Whelp seemed displeased by ejection and awakening. It growled for a moment before its little nose caught the scent of the mulch. It scurried into it and spent several minutes sniffing around. The rest of the room seemed of no interest to the critter. Then, it looked up at Nil and chirped. It was a sad, low-energy sound.

“What is it?” Nil asked. He let the whelp sniff his fingers for a moment before he scratched under its chin. The area wasn’t covered in a woody carapace like the rest of its body. The whelp leaned into the touch and fell onto its side, bottom left leg kicking like a dog. “Did you want some affection?”

It chirped again, still sounding morose.

“Are you hungry?” Nil had brought back a few scraps from the dining hall. The whelp devoured the bits of apple and banana before turning its emerald eyes hungrily on the banana skin. He handed it over along with bits of lettuce, and she ate it all. The chirps grew increasingly happier. Nil stroked the whelp’s thorny back as it ate, and she vibrated, making little purring sounds. “You’re going to need a name, little vibrating lump.”

The whelp’s carapace parted into woody tentacles, and Nil finally saw where the name Ironroot came from. The spikes on the root-like appendages vibrated with the rest of the body, and the rust covering them fell away, revealing an almost polished silvery surface underneath. They grew slightly, extending an additional centimeter out of the body. The tentacles rotated around the body like a little umbrella, drawing a little circle in the mulch. When the whelp finished, she curled up into a little thorny sphere and lay in a little hole born of the odd dance.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

Nil smiled, chuckling to himself as an eye idea came to him. “I’ll call you Meatball until I think of something better.” He felt a little pulse in his solar plexus. It felt like a little jolt of static electricity. He didn’t know whether it was approval or not, but showered, changed, and crawled into bed feeling satisfied nonetheless.

Finally, Nil turned his attention to the manuals he received from the Moon Rabbit Emporium. First, he glossed over the cultivation book. It spoke of absorbing and collecting Qi while in the arena or on quests and then learning to control and circulate said energy when in the barren world. Helga recommended the use of artifacts and relics capable of storing the energies. She also highlighted the importance of several cultivation aids and pills to such individuals. Nil had seen some of the named products while in the Nexus Market, and each was valued in the thousands if not tens of thousands. He received five hundred Schema Credits in his welcome package alone. He could only use one every three months, and she advised him against cultivating more than two such products in the Iron Realm.

Next, Nil studied the Pill Absorption Manual. It included a basic energy circulation technique for meditating. The instructions related to the Body Pill also recommended focused exercise and training for six hours a day for a month after consumption. It highlighted the need for rest periods and spoke of dangers such as muscle tears if pushing too hard while under its effects. The alchemical creation accelerated healing, and such injuries would fix themselves in a week or so, but that would come at the cost of lost training time.

The instructions related to the Mind Pill spoke of meditation and mental exercises, including math problems, puzzles, and memory games. Nil imagined the latter would prove especially challenging with his most recent feat.

Meanwhile, the Spirit Pill’s manual was a lot more ambiguous. It almost purely focused on meditation and the circulation of energies while in isolation for no more than twelve hours at a time. It advised following them with four hours of practicing ‘techniques’ and then plenty of rest.

All the pills also included diets to follow during the absorption periods. Nil needed to eat protein, calcium, and fiber-rich foods for his body, fish, and fiber for his mind. Meanwhile, training his spirit involved living a vegan diet. The last displeased him the most, but it wasn’t an immediate concern. Nil didn’t plan on consuming the pill until his body ascended to the Bronze Realm. Besides, he didn’t have the time to spend several hours a day in isolation.

It was tempting to consume the Body Pill as soon as he woke up the following morning, but Nil resisted. He wanted to get a handle on the basic circulation techniques first so he could get the most out of his pills. He also had a meeting with Symbiotech the following day and wanted nothing in his system before meeting with them.

After the usual morning warm-up and breakfast, Nil locked himself in a solo training room. It was a privilege set aside for active arena fighters and demanded early booking. He had used them a couple of times before with Isabella’s assistance. She also used it with Lucy, and many had complained that she, as a Mortal Realm, enjoyed the privilege while the others didn’t.

The knight was still a mystery. The rumor mills claimed she was the daughter of someone important and powerful and relied on secrecy for her family’s privacy. Others believed she was a celebrity’s illegitimate child and wanted to keep things secret so her parents’ lives or reputations remained unaffected. There was also talk of people trying to kill her if her secrets got out. Nil ignored most of the talk. He watched her arena videos, and she continued to wear the armor. Nil didn’t bother getting involved in the chatter and theorized the woman relied on the armor for her ability. Dealing with the Nexus had taught him that Earth’s take on disciplines was flawed.

Nil had carried Meatball with him during the morning’s training and breakfast. She had napped during the former and snacked during the latter. Now, as he settled in the training room, she got a burst of energy and explored. The whelp coiled into a little sphere before rolling around. He wasn’t sure how she knew where she was going or how she propelled herself as she slowly picked up speed. The thorns extended and retracted, helping her change direction.

After watching his new companion enjoy herself for a while, Nil followed the cultivation manual. He had no Qi but was pleased to learn that he could cycle Brutal Battery’s stores through his body. It involved using Expend, and he slowly lost a trickle, but the act helped him get a handle on Energy Instinct’s newest abilities too. It was a slow start and felt like forcing honey through a hair-wide tube, but Nil couldn’t be happier. Best of all, Restless In Body And Mind didn’t affect cultivation.

It's a start.