Micro stood behind his six new comrades as they prepared to face the eight cave bears moving lazily toward them, their noses high in the air as they followed the scent of their supposed prey. Each of Kel’s friends wore similar attire, green and brown garments, a green headband, a shield on their back, and a sword at their side, but they lacked the gold adornments Kel’s clothing had.

Together, the six of them removed the shields from their backs, took a moment to coordinate their attacks, and then charged the cave bears without hesitation. Even Tae, whose frame was small compared to the others, was able to deflect several large rocks as they were thrown at her without losing speed until her shield eventually reached the large form of her targeted cave bear itself.

Her attack flung the cave bear against the cave wall, but it stood up again with a roar full of pain and rage. However, its next attack was deflected by Den, whose shield ripped right through its torso as Tae turned to deflect the claw of another cave bear. Kel was also alternating between defending and attacking as the six cooperated to counter the superior numbers of the enemy, though he seemed to be using less power than he had when they encountered the first cave bear.

Micro carefully observed the way they defied the common sense he knew, using their tiny human bodies to completely overwhelm the much larger creatures in a short time, and soon the battle was over. Micro walked ahead to rejoin the group, stepping over the motionless remains of one cave bear on his way, and smiled.

“Good job.” He held his hand out and made a fist, then awkwardly extended his thumb upward.

“So, these are dungeon monsters?”

“No, these are just monsters that tend to gather near dungeon entrances.” Kel replied as he put his shield on his back and brushed the dust from his clothes.

“Monsters aren’t uncommon in caves, but to see so many in one place all but guarantees the entrance is very near.”

“Are they cultivators too?”

“No.” Kel chuckled.

“That would be a problem, indeed. Monsters, and many creatures for that matter, are drawn to sources of energy. Now, can you see the entrance yet, Tae?”

“Yes, young master.” She nodded.

“It’s behind that wall, there.”

She pointed at the rocky wall of the cave, but Micro couldn’t see anything there but rocks. He looked at Kel, expecting him to comment on the missing dungeon, but Kel walked over to the place she was pointing at and smiled.

“Well done, Tae.” Kel praised her.

“It would have taken me days to find this alone.”

“Your words are wasted on me.” Tae spoke humbly, bowing her head to Kel.

“This will take some time though.” Kel mumbled as he began to tap the rocky wall with his knuckles.

“I didn’t expect it to be this well hidden.”

“The dungeon is in the rocks?” Micro finally asked, hoping his question wouldn’t offend anyone.

“Yes, and it may be buried quite deeply behind this wall.” Kel replied.

“This is manageable though. I’ve heard of dungeons with entrances that appear deep beneath the sea floor. Those are only legends, of course…”

Den and the other two men stepped forward at once to inspect the rock, and nodded to each other.

“Please rest, young master.” One of the men spoke.

“We will remove this obstacle from your path.”

Kel was about to voice his objection to the idea when he noticed Tae shaking her head subtly with a stern expression.

“Very well…” He conceded.

“I’ll leave the excavation to you this time.”

“Excavation?” Micro asked in surprise.

“They don’t have any tools or machines.”

Kel smiled and guided Micro away from the site of the dungeon’s hidden gate, gesturing for him to take a seat atop a flat rock. The two sat facing each other, and Micro mimicked the crossed legged posture of Kel.

“My friends will have little trouble dealing with some rocks.” He sighed.

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“It is their duty, after all.”

“Their duty?”

“I am the heir to a sect, and they are my attendants. It would be discourteous to fulfill their duties myself, given their families’ generations of loyal service to my own.” Kel wore a bitter expression, but continued on.

“Let us take this chance to practice shielding yourself with an aura of your own making. How are you feeling now?”

“I feel the same…” Micro replied.

“Not great…”

“Then tell me, please.” Kel began with an instructor’s tone.

“What stands in the way of you controlling the energy contained within your own core?”

“Well…” Micro thought about it for a moment.

“I can catch the light that leaks out of my core, but when I put it on my body, It just flies away.”

“Fascinating…” Kel stroked his chin with an amused expression.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of such an issue. You see, most beginners can barely gather enough energy to spread across a small part of themselves, and most of the time, it is simply reabsorbed, flowing back into their core like rainwater to a lake. But you, my interesting young friend, have an excess of energy, and it seems very unstable…”

“What should I do?” Micro pleaded, wishing to rid himself of the sick feeling energy gave him.

Kel looked over his shoulder, confirming that nobody else was listening to their conversation.

“There is a similar technique I could show you.” Kel whispered.

“Outsiders would never be permitted to learn it, but…”

Once again confirming they were not overheard by the others, he continued.

“I think you should know. It’s an advanced technique compared to the one I showed you before, but it should help. Close your eyes and concentrate, quickly.” Kel ordered, and Micro obeyed.

“Once you’ve achieved a state of-”

Kel was once again surprised at the speed with which Micro was able to enter such a deep meditative state. Micro’s body was completely motionless, his heart slowed, his breathing nearly imperceptible, and his aura was expanding to touch everything within a few paces of him. Kel was suddenly motivated to join Micro, so he took a deep breath and mirrored Micro’s motionless state.

Micro was looking around the empty space where his body didn’t exactly feel like it was there, when he suddenly noticed the ghostly image of Kel appear in front of him.

“Oh, you’re here!” Micro greeted him.

“I’m sorry it’s so dark in here but my headlights…”

“So it is completely dark in your eyes?” Kel asked with a curious look.

“It’s almost refreshing to hear you still have things to learn.”

“You can see in this darkness without headlights?”

“It is not light that illuminates the immaterial, but our own eyes.” Kel explained.

“Though, I am still unable to grasp the entirety of the spirit realm. In any case, remember why we are here.”

“So your eyes… are the headlights…?” Micro mumbled in confusion.

“Focus, Micro.”

“Sorry.”

“Listen carefully.” Kel began.

“Before, you were simply coating yourself with energy. This is a rudimentary technique for those with much less energy than you. However, mysterious as you are, the energy your core struggles to contain is far too unruly for a novice cultivator to stabilize.”

“So what do I do?”

“Rather than coat your body from the outside, like applying a coat of paint, you must allow the energy to flow out of you.”

“It needs to flow out of my body?” Micro tilted his head.

“Like exhaust?”

“Umm…” Kel raised an eyebrow in reply.

“More like sweat.”

“Ah…” Micro grumbled in disappointment.

“Another thing I don’t really understand yet.”

“What aspect of the technique do you not fully grasp?” Kel asked with a kind voice.

“I understand that it is difficult, especially for a novice Jade core practitioner…”

“Sweating.” Micro sighed.

“Sweating…?” Kel stuttered.

“Do you not… do you not understand sweating?”

“Well, I’ve done it a few times since arriving, and it feels terrible and refreshing at the same time…” Micro complained.

“What even is it?”

“Sweating was not a common occurrence where you lived before?”

“Condensation was a more common problem for me, but other than that…” Micro thought deeply about the problem for a while. Kel stepped back to allow the confused young soul to come to terms with the problem, unsure how to proceed with the lesson given Micro’s increasingly unrelatable experiences.

“Micro…” Kel eventually spoke, clapping his hands once with enthusiasm.

“How about this? Imagine a fire burning in a metal oven. Can you picture that?”

“A fire in an oven?” Micro thought about it for a moment, then nodded happily.

“Okay, now what?”

“Imagine sealing the chimney shut, so no heat could escape.” Kel continued.

“Where would the heat go?”

“It would go…” Micro thought aloud, then his eyes widened and his mouth formed a big smile.

“It would radiate outwards!”

“Yes, it would-” Kel squinted his eyes.

“Wait, what?”

“Just like a radiator!” Micro shouted.

“But what about the pump? No, wait, I have a heart now. That would work. For the fluid… Aha! Blood! Then I just have to…”

Kel watched with a look of great concern as Micro began speaking in terms that made little to no sense to him, but was slightly relieved to see the boy’s genuine smile.

“Well, at least he’s enjoying the process of learn-” Kel whispered to himself, but his words fell short when he realized what had happened right in front of him.

Micro was covered in a dense layer of energy, flowing out of him fiercely and steadily like the flame atop a blacksmith’s forge.

“It worked!” Micro shouted, his own voice drowned out by the roaring aura coating him.

“I didn’t realize humans were so much like trucks!”

“Congratulations…” Kel’s concentration finally broke, and he awoke in the cave across the boy who was still locked in a trance despite the aura pouring out of him.

“Are you really human…?”