[I might be able to help with that.] I said to the Chief and looked at Bram who was defending himself from Felix’s assault. The little kid didn’t even reach his waist, yet he was more persistent than a little monkey trying to steal a piece of fruit.
He was jumping around and going from one question to another, asking so many things, the answers of which prompted even more basic as well as bizarre questions.
“Him?”
[He’s decent. I was thinking about getting him to teach Felix. The little kid will need a lot of guidance, I can already see that. Making a mistake on the first step already...]
“Mistake?” The Chief asked.
[He didn’t follow the manual. Come. Let’s speak with them.]
We approached, and little Felix quickly shifted his attention. “Uncle Gerald!”
[Hello, little one.] I patted his head. He was calling me uncle for some reason, but I didn’t mind. I then looked at Bram. [I see you have already met Bram. He’s going to be your new teacher.]
“I will?”
“Him? But I already have Grandpa Chief teaching me. I like Grandpa Chief!”
[Yes, but he has other work to do too, like leading the village for example. He can’t be with you all the time.] I explained patiently.
“But Master… I don’t have any experience teaching. Also, it has been centuries since I began my Cultivation, the early stages…” Bram protested.
[I know, and it doesn’t matter.] I said. [I already gave him a manual that is sufficient. However, this little guy over here…] I gave Felix a judging look. [...decided to ignore the instructions and mess up on the first step.]
“But I did like it said! Even Grandpa Chief said I did good! I’m stronger now!” Felix flexed his nonexistent muscles.
[You did great, yes… for a bottom feeder. But I didn’t uplift your potential to infinity just so you could become a common weakling.]
“You did… what?” Bram asked. I ignored him.
[If you truly want to become strong, you will do as the manual tells you. And Bram here will make sure that you do. I know you are still experiencing the aftereffects of your awakening just recently, but that is no excuse to be slacking off.]
I placed my hand on his head and very gently unraveled his Cultivation, placing him back on the first step.
“Hey!” Felix shouted, pouting. “I worked hard for that!”
[No cheating. Do it properly or don’t do it at all.] I turned back to Bram. [Make sure he Cultivates according to the instructions. I expect him to advance no earlier than two months from now. If he does it any sooner, I will know you have been slacking off.]
“But Master, how am I going to be helping you if I have to be watching over this… kid?” Bram protested.
[You don’t have to be hovering over him all the time. A few hours every day should work, you just need to make sure he does things properly.] I explained. [Also, teach him to control his energy. While he was born here and his body gained some natural resistance to the pull of Dreadstone, that will not be enough. For now, while he has such little energy, the effect is not yet pronounced, but as he advances further, the pull on his Qi will also become stronger.]
Holding onto a small leaf in a storm was easy. Keeping back a giant sail was not.
That became especially apparent when people reached the Spirit Realm and started to convert their own bodies into solidified energy. Cultivating Spirit Body where you replaced every cell with Qi unfortunately made it particularly susceptible to the effects of Dreadstone. Even if Felix had a long way to go to reach it, it was better to teach him early.
“Ah! Of course! How could I have been so reckless!” The Chief exclaimed, slapping his forehead. “I completely forgot he was protected from the effect of his place while he was still a Mortal. Thank you for your guidance, Senior Gerald, I nearly made a grave mistake.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
[You are welcome and I’m not a Senior. I am younger than all of you here, with the exception of Felix, of course.]
“Oh…”
I crouched down to get on Felix’s level. [I want you, little guy, to become strong, and for that, you can’t just reach the bare minimum requirements for advancement. You need to stuff your Soul with as much Qi as it can take, and only then elevate it to a higher stage. That’s how you build a proper foundation, understand?]
“But that is going to take so much time.” Felix pouted. “I want to play!”
[That’s fine, you can play. But that just means it will take you even longer to grow. Don’t you want to be strong like Grandpa Chief? Or teacher Bram?]
“I want to be strong like you, Uncle Gerald! I want to be able to lift a mountain like you! I want to fly!” Little Felix exclaimed with big round eyes full of wonder.
I ruffled his hair and laughed. [Haha! Then you better not slack off. It takes many years to get this strong!]
“I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”
I just nodded and smiled.
----------------------------------------
After my meddling with his Soul, the kid went from being mentally challenged to a hyperactive genius. He could remember everything just by being told once, and his vocabulary expanded daily. Even the centuries-old Cultivators were having trouble keeping up with his growth. Usually, things took time and developed slowly, and instead with Felix around, every day was a new adventure.
Even in the barren wasteland with nothing to do, he always found something to mess around with.
According to Bram, the kid was Cultivating extremely fast, and his abilities were developing at lightning speed. Compared to how quickly I advanced he was still a bit slow, but for the common man he was considered a prodigy. Because of that, some of the villagers even began calling me a miracle worker, which was kind of annoying. Luckily it didn’t happen often so I just decided to ignore it.
----------------------------------------
Every 35 days we would all gather in the village square, waiting for the rift where Thener would bring out all kinds of weird energy measuring implements to better understand it. Apart from exclamations of wonder and understanding, he never said much, satisfied to simply record his discoveries month after month.
I spent most of my time extracting Dreadstone with Bram while Thalza Cultivated slowly on her own. Thener meanwhile finished the first prototype of a Qi generator, a special round plate a few meters across that had six Soul Stones inserted along its edge, with masterfully carved Void Stone rods and tubes that would bring the expelled Qi. He used Dreadstone to attract it, and then Void Stone to redirect it to the middle to be utilized.
There, a large core was embedded in the metal, carved with inscriptions and serving as a reservoir for the energy.
To bring the relic to a greater height and make it stand out, I took a bunch of Spirit Swords and melted them down, creating a sort of throne. A Mithril throne. A Spirit Throne. I sat on it, feeling the energy pour into me.
[Not bad. It’s still kind of slow, but much better than a single Soul Stone.]
“Thank you, Master Gerald.”
[Though… can’t you add a few more Soul Stones? It seems to me there is plenty of space left.]
Thener shook his head. “Unfortunately no. The Stones do not have a uniform area of influence, so I had to err on the side of caution. If they interfere with each other the efficiency will drop even further. Maybe I could add another Stone on top of the throne if we extend it a bit, but that’s as far as it would go.”
[Hmm, sure. Do that.] I took another few swords from the storage and handed them over. [Don’t be afraid to ask for more materials, after all, their destiny is to be used.]
Not to mention that I had collected a nice pile of stuff from the fifteen who tried to fight me. Their relics, weapons, and armor served me well to rebuild my stores of raw materials.
“Of course.” Thener bowed, took the swords, and got back to work.
I went to stretch my limbs a bit by flying around the village in a spiral pattern, killing any large monsters I could find on the way. Every week a few starving beasts would wander near the village, and while usually they would have been taken out with the combined might of the Echoes of the Forgotten Dawn, I decided to do them a favor and take care of the problem.
Of course, I didn’t kill every creature I came across. Only those in the middle or upper Levels of the Spirit Realm. The weaklings in the beginning Levels, or even those in the upper stages of Golden Core, I left alone. People needed exercise to stay alert, there was just no need for them to risk their lives when I was around. Also, I was collecting Souls to Cultivate with, which weren’t easy to come by.
After spending nearly half a year in the Ashen Wastes, I decided it was time to advance. I had long since collected enough Souls to do so, I was just hesitating to use them to fuel my Cultivation. I always needed to keep some in reserve, but considering I already had hundreds, maybe I was going overboard.
No matter how strong and large my Sea of Consciousness was, there was a limit to how many sentient beings it could contain.
----------------------------------------
I alerted Bram and Thalza and told them of my intentions, and then flew far away to complete my advancement. Jumping through stages wasn’t too dangerous, but with the little Felix barely stepping onto the path of Cultivation, I decided it was best not to risk it. He was so fragile that just a tiny strand of stray energy could kill him instantly. And death in the Ashen Wastes would utterly destroy his Soul, with no hope of resurrection. Not that things would be much different even if we weren’t situated in such a hellish place.
I flew a decent distance away, enough that I couldn’t even see the village on the horizon anymore, and then dropped down and sat on my throne as I began.
I closed my eyes and focused. The Souls screamed as I devoured them, their voices music to my ears, and slowly, very slowly, my own Soul grew larger.