It took three entire days for young Myrkas to recover from his water-based endeavours. Three days in which the youth came very close to emptying every single cold box and food storage in the Hakhmir estate. Myrkas had been ravenous. His shape had visibly changed as the days progressed, his still skinny frame quickly gaining back his lost muscle mass. By a miraculous stroke of luck, the boy's sudden physiognomical changes had passed unnoticed. The extensive preparations for the coming summer solstice festival had kept the household so busy as to allow Myrkas to remain under their radars. The moderate chaos brought by the imminent festivities was the only reason the eagle-eyed Nirrina had not noticed anything amiss.

Myrkas smiled fondly while thinking of her. Nirrina had started to change as well. The young woman had capitalized on the various adjustments to everyone's routines brought on by Myrkas' new activities. After months of uncertainty and indecision, Nirrina had begun to step into her nominal role as the lady of the house, and de facto in charge of general management. A task long neglected, as it turned out.

To no one's surprise, Koriss Hakhmir did not reveal himself to be particularly gifted in the organizational department. His working "organized chaos" erred more on the chaotic side of the scale than the organized one. Once Nirrina had dared to cross the threshold of the laboratory, the young lady had nearly fainted from sheer shock. Her ordered and practical self had been sent into an unstoppable frenzy. Lists had materialized. Boxes and specialized storage containers had appeared. Gigantic, wall-spanning cabinets had been installed, with each square drawer sporting a hand-written sign denoting its contents.

The clutter vanished. Most stains disappeared, with the help of actual magic. Mysterious barrels of unused and forgotten reagents were discovered, as well as numerous containers of "past due-date" alchemical products. In short, the workshop had been transformed, the library dusted, and the alchemist put back in his place: doing research and production while far away from any administrative task.

The extent of the waste revealed had shocked both Myrkas and Nirrina. The psychological hit had instantly pushed Nirrina passed her usual weakness, letting her step onto the path of takeover and restructuration. Thankfully, she had had very few issues in convincing Kariss to delegate the dull tasks of tally and storage, only requiring a bit of gentle prodding and pushing. As soon as the man understood the advantages of relegating orders and what-not to a trusted partner, Nirrina had received carte blanche. A card she used with parsimony, as she was not secure enough in her station to risk larger purchases or costly innovations.

Marta di Kroush had jumped with joy at the improvements. At last, the matronly woman had someone to answer her supply questions. The older woman had enough chores to care for to welcome with open arms a gentle and competent Young Mistress, and Nirrina Chen di Hakhmir was shaping up to be one exceptional Mistress.

The gardens remained the one area that stayed outside of Nirrina's self-imposed purview. The extensive vegetal populace living on the grounds would continue to prosper under Serni Kroush's diligent care. The motives behind Master Hakhmir's hiring of the man all those years ago were still valid. Serm's instinctual knowledge of plants, even Qi-filled ones, and their needs helped to provide a steady stream of fresh alchemical ingredients for Koriss' work and experiments. No acute change was needed under the gardener's experienced supervision.

In sum, many benefits had emerged since Myrkas' first foray into daring risks. The youth hoped his more recent bath experiment, from which he had successfully recovered, would provide him with similar advancements in his path of cultivation. It was time to assess.

With the Assessor in hands, Myrkas ran to his private spot. As usual, his only witnesses would be Snow and whomever else of his furry friends would deign to be present. Resisting the urge to verify his progress before he had fully recovered required an inordinate amount of discipline and willpower from Myrkas. The main reason the boy had succeeded in his wait was his nagging fear of uncovering some permanent damage lingering in his stressed body. Better to put his best form forward for his evaluation. It was finally time.

With trembling hands, Myrkas activated the artifact and let it rest directly on his skin. The boy was insanely grateful to fate for allowing him to use this type of objective tool to track his progress. No need to rely on "vague feelings of increased power" as Myrkas climbed the many steps of each stage and Realm. No need to rely on others to see what worked and what did not. Myrkas could himself watch the numbers going up, and he knew of no better feeling in existence.

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As previous, the shimmery gold and orange blob shifted to words in the air. The assessment process took a little less time than before, as if the amulet-like artifact remembered Myrkas' preceding one. While holding his breath, the boy watched his updated status appear.

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[Assessment Complete]

[Report]

Name: Myrkas Hakhmir

Age standard: 12

Race: Human

Constitution: None

Bloodline: None

Spirit Roots: 2

* Water at Copper level,

* Air at Wood level,

* no other root above the Mortal level

Meridians: Trivial

Dantians:

* Upper: near gate closed, far gate closed

* Middle: near gate closed, far gate closed

* Lower: near gate closed, far gate closed

Soul composition: 63% Yang 37% Yin

Qi types detected: 1—Undefined

Warning, soul damage detected. Dual fused reparation detected.

Realm: Mortal

Stages:

* Body plane: Qi gathering Step 5

* Qi-plane: Qi gathering Step 0

* Soul plane Qi gathering Step 3

Detected techniques:

* Meditation, self-made, Breath centred–Copper level

* Internal Qi Manipulation—Beginner

* Qi Sense—Novice

Skills:

1. Martial:

* Unarmed combat–Novice

* Evasion–Beginner

2. crafting: None

3. Social: None

4. Artistic: None

[Report Complete]

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Success!

Over two steps with one session. Myrkas could hardly believe it. The boy had not been able to move past the second step since his first assessment while following his uncle's training regimen. This, this was real, visible progress. The fact that Myrkas had almost died to achieve it did not weigh much to the tween in front of the number going up. It was all worth it. Myrkas did not know what the future had in store for him. But cultivation worlds were ruthless, ruled by the strong. The only way he could prepare was to grow in strength as fast as he was able to.

As for Qi-sense, Myrkas already knew he had acquired the ability. Even now, he was able to perceive his own Qi if he paid attention. The silvery colour soaked his insides, most concentrated around his lungs, heart, and beneath his skin. A faint stream flowed along Myrkas' blood, continuing the cycle he had started to save his life. It felt oddly wrong, in a way. His intuition hinted how Qi was not supposed to directly travel through his physical vessels. Myrkas paused to analyze his state for a while.

The boy remembered countless cultivation fictions. In each of those, Qi circulated from dantians—cores—through meridians, which acted as specialized Qi channels. A plumbing system Myrkas did not possess, according to the Assessor. It was clearly stated in his report: his meridians were deemed "trivial." In no universe was "trivial" a nice term.

It was a flaw, no two ways about it. A giant ink splatter on his evolving report. Myrkas had already accepted his lack of an awesome bloodline. It wasn't like he could change who his parents were. But this meridians business appeared fixable. Meridians were crucial to cultivators. If having underdeveloped ones prevented advancement, Myrkas would have expected his uncle or the Assessor to make note of it. Which they had not. Why would Koriss waste time on an irreversibly crippled nephew?

Koriss would not. That would be wasteful, and Myrkas' uncle was not intentionally wasteful. Distractfully so yes, but never on purpose, or when it was obvious. On further thought, if meridians were so important at the start, Ranil should have tested him before discussing his discipleship with his uncle. A thing the flaky man had not done to Myrkas' knowledge. Although the thug seemed too fickle for Myrkas to base any conclusion on his actions. Better to plan with Ranil's continued lack of involvement and reliability in mind. Expectations had to be managed. Success started with reasonable goals while relying minimally on external factors.

Myrkas tapped his own shoulder. Those were great reflections. Superb wisdom. No need to feel dejected about the probable abandonment by a would-be mediocre Martial Master. No need to be sad whatsoever. Myrkas had everything he needed, right here. He was better without Ranil.

Myrkas had the Assessor, his uncle, and regular martial training. So what if his current martial instructor looked a bit flimsy? The man was still a retired soldier. And he taught basic stances well from what Myrkas had observed. A punch was a punch, no need to complicate things too much.

Infinitely smarter to rely on his proven resources. Starting with his portable Master! Without further ado, Myrkas enabled the Guiding mode and asked about strategies to improve his meridians from their "trivial" rating. Such an insulting rating had no place on a future legend's status.

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[Guiding mode activated for Assessed Myrkas Hakhmir]

[General Meridians Guidance]

Current state: trivial

Basic requirements not met for further assistance

Unable to provide adequate strategies to advance Meridians for Assessed [Myrkas Hakhmir] at present.

[End of Guidance]

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