When Micro opened his eyes again and found himself back in the cave where he sat across from Kel, whose face was harder to read than usual, he felt refreshed and ready for anything. He looked at his hands and noticed the same type of aura he’d seen the cultivators emitting, though the colour was slightly different. Kel’s was slightly green, but his own aura was like a white fog that swirled around him like a fire.

“It’s like I didn’t realize how badly my engine was overheating!” He celebrated before the confused Kel.

“And I feel way more comfortable. Oh, wow. Look at them go.”

Micro noticed that since closing his eyes, Kel’s friends had dug a massive hole in the side of the cave, big enough for two of him to park in with room to spare. What impressed him the most is that they didn’t use any tools at all. All they used to smash and move the rocks and debris were their hands, though their hands were glowing mysteriously as they worked.

“So they use the same energy on their hands…?” Micro asked as his understanding began to increase.

“Simply put, that is a fair assessment.” Kel replied, shaking his head to dispel the shock of Micro’s sudden advancement from his thoughts.

“Though tiring for cultivators of our level, it is a trivial matter to harden one’s body with internal energy, if one has mastered certain techniques.” Kel’s voice returned to its normal, confident tone as he explained the process to Micro.

“Using internal energy in this way is not dissimilar to the technique you just mastered…”

Kel’s voice trailed off as Micro stood up and seemed to be making small adjustments to his aura, fine tuning its thickness and intensity. When he seemed content with his mostly stable protective layer, he walked ahead of Kel back to the others. They were busily breaking apart the dense rock, piece by piece, and moving the debris farther down the tunnel.

“I can help with that!” Micro said happily when Den passed him by with a boulder in his hands.

“Anything under half a ton should be fine.”

“Half a what…?” Den asked in confusion as he began to notice the new and powerful aura coating Micro. He was left more speechless when Micro effortlessly removed the large rock from his grip and began carrying it down the cave to the existing pile.

“What technique is that…?” Den muttered as the small boy quickly returned for another rock.

“He may be a prodigious talent.” Kel replied as he watched Micro work.

“But he’s not using a skill, and that artificial vessel is relatively weak…”

“No…” Den gasped.

“Then you mean…?”

“Yes, I’m almost certain.” Kel nodded, his eyes full of wonder.

“Micro’s soul possesses a will that defies his own physical limitations. And it does so with ease.”

“Physical limitations?” Micro asked while picking up a boulder at least twice the weight of his own body, having overheard their hushed conversation.

“This is nothing compared to when I had a bed to carry things in.”

“A bed, you say?” Den’s eyebrows reached new heights while trying to place the boy’s words in context.

“But arms are more convenient than I thought.” Micro said as he stopped halfway to the debris pile and through his rock the rest of the way.

“I still feel naked without my doors though, and fingers are strange…”

Kel and Den watched as Micro wiggled his fingers in front of his face for a moment before bending over to grab another heavy rock. Tae and the others were doing their best to avoid looking distracted from their task, but frequently bumped into each other while looking over their shoulder at him. When Den noticed progress on the tunnel had actually slowed since Micro began to help, he straightened his back and cleared his throat with a loud rumble that shook the cave.

“What are you dragging your feet for, everyone?” Den’s voice boomed.

“Are you going to make the boy do all your work while the young master watches you rest?!”

His words were effective in hastening the gate’s excavation, with Micro happily assisting in carrying whatever rocks were flung out of the tunnel in his general direction. Kel attempted to assist several times, feeling guiltier by the minute as his comrades overworked themselves to the point of exhaustion, but he was unable to make it past Tae each time. With his role diminished, he decided to spend his time cultivating as always, and he returned to the process of trying to master the Jade Appraisal Skill card in his possession.

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“Why is it so dusty in here?” A familiar voice sputtered from within Micro’s pocket.

“And where is all this energy coming fro-”

The pixie poked her head out of Micro’s pocket, but she immediately saw the cultivators hard at work all around him and dove back into the pocket’s depths.

“You found a sect already?!” She whispered in panic.

“Oh, you look well.” Micro smiled down at her while transporting another rock, sending even more dust into the pocket in the process.

“What’s going on?” Blue coughed, but before she could continue her questioning, her eyes began to glow as they often did, and her expression became one of amusement.

“Oh, look at that. You’re making use of some of that stupidly large amount of energy in there.”

“Kel taught me how to use my body like a radiator.” Micro replied quietly. With a smile.

“Mmhmm, sure.” She mumbled as she turned around in his pocket to face the general direction of his core. She held her hand out against his chest, his core cards against her back, and sighed.

“Ah… That’s the stuff.”

Micro tripped over his own foot as he suddenly felt his strength drain out of him for a moment, dropping a large rock on his foot. He quickly made efforts to compensate for the apparent leak in his aura, and was relieved to find there was minimal damage to his old boot.

“Wow! Your energy is weird, but it’s delicious!” Blue half shouted as Micro shook his foot around to confirm it still worked.

“Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop. It’s not much, but this should get me back to normal before long.”

“Are you siphoning my fuel again?” Micro asked with a betrayed look on his face.

“Hey, you owe me, remember?” She argued back and stuck her tongue out, then went back to absorbing the energy flowing out of him little by little.

“You have more than enough to spare. Don’t be greedy, human.”

“Okay…” Micro shrugged, admittedly grateful for her assistance over the last few days.

“Do you need any-”

“Be quiet and let me focus.” She snapped.

“I’m hungry.”

“Sorry.” Micro returned his full attention to picking up and moving the rocks.

“What did you say?” Den called out to Micro from behind, sweat dripping from his face.

“Didn’t catch that.”

“Oh, hello.” Micro turned to reply.

“What do I do if I run out of fuel?”

“Fuel? You mean internal energy?” Den asked in reply.

“Yes. How do I refuel it if it runs empty?” Micro continued.

“Oh, that’s a simple matter.” Den paused his work to explain.

“If your internal energy is completely depleted, you’ll die.”

Micro’s face hardened, and his eyes wandered suspiciously down to his pocket.

“But that’s not something you need to worry about at your level.” Den insisted.

“I won’t run out?”

“Not easily.” Den nodded.

“At your level, fully utilizing your internal energy would be nearly impossible, and one’s soul is an immaterial force on its own. Even a mundane farmer’s soul is connected to the immaterial world around it. Think of it like breathing.”

“I refuel by breathing?”

“That’s one way of putting it. Cultivators teach ways of more quickly accumulating energy in your core and reshaping it into something stronger over time, but anybody with a soul is still connected to the energies of the world. With a soul like yours though, you really don’t need to worry about that…”

Micro frowned as he went over Den’s explanation again in his head before arriving at a conclusion.

“So I probably won’t run out?” He asked with a more optimistic expression.

“I’ll tell you what.” Den chuckled.

“I’ll let you know if I ever notice your energy getting dangerously low.”

“Like a fuel gauge?!” Micro shouted happily.

“That’s one of the things I’ve been missing the most recently!”

Den wasn’t sure how to reply, so he patted the boy’s shoulder, nodded, and went back to work with a long sigh. Micro was about to join him in moving more of the rocks, when suddenly one of the other men’s voices echoed out of the new tunnel.

“We found it, young master!” He shouted between ragged breaths.

“It’s just as described in the sacred texts.”

Kel jumped out of his trance and ran excitedly into the tunnel to join his comrades, and he gazed in awe at the scene before him.

“It’s my first time seeing a dungeon gate with my own eyes.” He spoke humbly.

“Is it the same as what you all have seen before?”

“They all look a little different to one another.” Tae replied.

“But the first one you find always looks the most…”

She trailed off while watching the wonder in Kel’s eyes. Micro soon joined Kel before the gate, curious about where it led. It looked like a simple gate, made of stone, but there was no door or handle. Rather, the inside of the gate looked like flowing water, suspended in the air in a way he couldn’t imagine.

“So, that’s a dungeon gate?” He asked the group.

“Yes, it is.” Tae replied with reverence.

“You can tell by the simple structure and its colour that it is a Jade level dungeon. And If you look closely…”

“Ah, it’s a turtle!” Micro exclaimed when he noticed the patterns that were occasionally visible in the gate.

“It’s a sacred object, and one of the foundations of our sect.” Kel added.

“This is where the progenitor of our sect first acquired the Turtle Art Core Card. Without it, the ancient teachings of our sect would be forgotten.”

“So everybody in your sect needs a turtle card?” Micro asked Kel.

“No, only the heir is required to obtain it. Its teachings can be passed down in part by one who has mastered the art, but true mastery would be impossible without the card itself.”

“So the card is in there?” Micro asked as he pointed at the gate.

“It is…” Kel’s voice was still full of awe as he began to comprehend the weight of the quest before him. He looked around at his comrades, all of whom wore knowing expressions, thanking them in his heart for supporting him that far.

“I must overcome the dangers of this dungeon, however harrowing they may be. Then, and only then, will I finally be worth to-”

“Okay.” Micro replied casually before walking through the shimmering green gate.