Damien stayed unconscious for the rest of the day and awoke the next day at midday. No one came to disturb him nor were they worried about him since they knew he liked to lock himself to cultivate days on end. Damien sat himself up in the chamber in a daze. He had no idea if he were dead or alive, since the last thing he remembered was an agony he could not describe with words. Once his senses fully regained their function he was able to clearly understand the situation he was in.
“I am still in the chamber, but my body feels like it’s not my own. I feel completely reborn.”
Damien inspected his body and found that his skin has a unique and slight glowing sheen to it. Every movement he made fussed loud pops to ring out of his body since it was finally breaking in its new form. Damien felt the air form shockwaves and travel straight into the fortified walls. A loud bang filled the chamber cracking the walls as if they were made of glass. Everything inside the chamber shut down and Damien was left in the dark. It didn’t take long for a worried voice to come from the outside, however they were not able to get the door open. Damien was quite embarrassed as he went up to the entrance to forcefully tear it open. The receptionist on the other side was stupefied when he witnessed a child not even a quarter of his age display more strength than he could ever accomplish.
The receptionist wanted to reprimand the young student as it was his job to maintain and take care of the chambers here but he was frightened by the magnificence of the being before him. Damien noticed he wasn’t in a very good spot but he was quick on his feet.
“I’m sorry for the commotion. It appears I have broken through to the Sky Realm and the excessive energies from the break through burst apart the Cultivation Chamber. Elder, what is my punishment?”
The receptionist took a step back awkwardly while he cleared his throat. He looked Damien up and down and nodded his head in approval, however he was internally shivering from fright.
“Young man there is no cause for concern. Since it was an inadvertent effect from breaking through, there shall be no reason to make a fuss about it. In fact, this is a joyous event for you. I’ll be sure to clean this up and if you’d like you can use the Sky Realm chambers for 500 credits! How about it?”
Damien gulped down when he heard the price of an upgraded chamber. However he had a feeling the usual would be of no use to him anymore considering the amount of damage he inflicted with the wave of his fist.
‘I should at least try it one time. Anyways, what would I use my credits for otherwise. Yeah that’s right, this expenditure is necessary.’
After an internal conflict was settled in his mind he decided to go along into the new chamber. It was practically the same but the walls were made of rarer materials that allowed for a stronger withstanding of force. Also the Rune Diagram was somehow visually simpler than the one coded onto the Earth Realm chamber. It confused Damien since a higher grade Mana Crystal was inserted to operate it but he decided to not let it bother him for now. The first thing he did now that he was isolated was to inspect his inner self. He started where his Core was, which then left him baffled.
Everything was empty like the first time he saw it, however he could feel the pressure of strength completely washing over him. He was able to welcome it with ease as his whole body was rebuilt. If he were to host this power before any change, then he would’ve been ripped to shreds. After reveling in a feeling that could only be described as blissful, he took a look at the fruit of his effort. A single drop of golden Mana Fluid stayed afloat, perched right in front of his Core. To Damien this was a marvelous sight to see all of his risks and hard work be standing in arms length.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
‘I can feel the difference in quality and strength. This is a whole new level and I’m closer to the top. Now I have to figure out how to cultivate another.’
Damien became satisfied with the change and now it was time to figure out what to do. He focused himself in position and began to feel the revolving Mana that was being magnified by the Mana Crystal and Rune Diagram. He started to absorb it so that he could try to meld it together with Mana Fluid, but it ended in a quick failure. Mana by its nature is sparse and not very dense. That is why when you absorb it in the wild it is always in the form of Mana Mist. Only Heaven Realm Mana Crystals are able to house Mana Fluid and allow it to be absorbed directly as such. Too bad they are extraordinarily rare and used for fail-safe mechanisms in case of a catastrophic emergency. Only those at the top are able to have the luck to use them for their personal benefit.
So when Damien went to collect the surrounding Mana it was only in the state of Mana Mist which did not mesh with his Mana Fluid. However in reality, for others it was a different matter. Since the nature of most cultivators’ Mana Fluid were like water, it allowed them to mesh the two different Mana’s very easily. For special cases such as Damien, they had their unique cultivation technique that taught them the right way or the makeup of their being was made for it.
Damn could only do what he knew to do and that was to collect the Mana Mist en masse and purify it to smaller quantities. He was cultivating exactly the same way he did as if he were in the Earth Realm. The only upside he had right now that kept him going was the speed in which he collected the prevailing Mana Mist. It took Damien a matter of seconds to gather enough that would reach the peak of the Earth Realm. Now that he was in the Sky Realm he could control it and condense with just a thought. He brought it down to a dense globe once again, so that he could follow his past footsteps. This time around, there was no pain nor hardship. The drop of Mana Fluid instantly vaporized it down to another drop and conjoined together at the end to make a slightly bigger droplet.
Damien was able to do this two more times before the Mana Crystal shattered and shut down his chamber. He knew he had to spend another 500 credits just to continue and it wasn’t going to cut it. He went to find out about Heaven Realm chamber, but you first needed to be in Heaven Realm and cough up 10000 credits. His mind exploded from the number, so he left before he made a fool of himself. In the end he found himself waltzing into the library alone trying to figure out what he should do.
“I don’t have enough credits to support the expenditure of using the Cultivation Chamber and even if I did it wouldn’t be reasonable enough to do it in the first place. There must be something I can do that wouldn’t impact my meager funds and leave me destitute. Maybe if I were to ask Miss Cloverleaf…”
“Did you call Damien?”
Damien jumped out of his seat as the librarian, Kyra Cloverleaf, appeared before him from the depths of the library. She took a seat across from him with a twinkle in her eye. She gazed at him closely to see every change of detail. Once Damien straightened himself out he was able to give a formal greeting.
“Hello Miss Cloverleaf. How may I help you?”
“No it should be, how shall I help you? You see, as a librarian I have developed a very keen sense of hearing and I am able to listen to the smallest of whispers. I don’t mean to eavesdrop but it is my job to enforce the rules here. So, what did you need to ask me?”
Damien understood he needed all the help he can get so he wasn’t shy about asking for assistance.
“Miss Cloverleaf, do you know of a way to cultivate faster? I know the Cultivation Chambers help greatly, but they are quite pricey. I need something free and easy!”
Kyra had met many students in the past and dealt with many pests, and none had ever caught her attention. Her eyes and mind had always been in the countless knowledge these books held, however ever since her Sunstone mysteriously broke when she met Damien, she knew he was not the same as the rest.
“Child, if you really wanted that answer then you would’ve buried your head in these books. Still, since you are just a child I can give you some help. It’s so simple it probably went right over your head. It is easier to command and absorb Mana with the specific property of your Dao. Per se if you were inclined toward the Fire Dao, a geothermal pocket in the Earth can help or even the mouth of a volcano. It’s that simple, but don’t believe it to be so easy. Those are natural spots ready for the pickings. You know what that means right?”