While standing outside the glowing, white truck, Micro recalled the sensation of picking energy out of a puddle of rain, and took hold of some of the energy dancing in the air around him. It hurt much less to hold his own energy than the rain’s, and it almost felt comfortable to grasp. He placed it on the ground several paces from the truck, and was pleased to see it respond to his needs. As it came to rest on the invisible ground, it took the shape of a brick. Though he had imagined a red brick, he knew it would do.
“I’m glad I saw the old man build one of these before. This shouldn’t take long.” Micro thought with a nostalgic smile.
One by one, bricks formed from the energy around him, and he placed them neatly beside each other until a large structure had formed around the truck which was his own soul. The more time he spent transforming his energy into something he could use, the more natural it felt. He realized he could be more selective of the energies he harnessed, flicking away bits of impure debris with a thought, and producing a shinier brick in the process.
Before long, he had managed to recreate a scene so familiar to him that he was confident he’d recreated every detail, down to the smallest imperfections in the shingles on the roof and the squeak of the door as it opened and closed. He recreated the concrete floor and the land around the building too, complete with the grass and wildflowers that grew on it. He even recreated the small remote control the old man installed a few years ago.
“Now to clean up a little.” He thought while looking around at the chaos that continued to rage. He’d already had to repair several shingles as the storm of energy continued, so he quickly created several large cardboard boxes and began to stuff the energy inside. Some of the energy felt dirty to touch, so he also recreated the garbage bin next to the garage and disposed of it there.
He wasn’t sure how long it took, but eventually he’d gotten used to scooping up large amounts of energy and storing it quickly in boxes, which he was then able to store in the garage on the faithfully reconstructed shelves. He worried that he might not have enough room for it all at first, but with some effort was able to compress quite a lot into each box.
He had long since lost track of time when he began to feel a little tired, and he suddenly heard a voice echo in the peaceful world around him.
“Grandfather… It’s been half an hour…” Kel’s voice rang out.
“Is he…”
“It’s unorthodox…” The sect leader’s voice followed.
“But I think he managed to get it under control…”
He took a final look at the garage he’d made. It was exactly as he remembered it, though it was distinctly green in colour, and it was orbited by two rings of water and fire, and smiled. Content with the results, he allowed himself to wake up from his meditative state for the first time in what felt like a long time. He opened his eyes and took in the situation around him.
A dozen exhausted men and women in green and brown attire leaned back against the walls of the room. The room itself was virtually destroyed, and looked more like a natural feature of the mountain than the luxurious space it had been not long before. He noticed Kel and Tae standing beside each other, both of whom looked ready to faint from exhaustion with looks of relief on their faces.
“It’s a rare thing for one’s body not to match the shape of their soul…” The sect leader suddenly spoke, being the only person in the room with the energy left to do so.
“They’re usually born together, after all. But with a strong core, no issues should ever arise from your unique situation again. But what you have created…”
His eyes glowed fiercely as he peered into Micro’s core from across the room, but he seemed to give up after a moment and laughed.
“I’ve never seen a core that shape before, but it is far stronger than mine!” His frail voice filled the room with laughter before he continued.
“You have an inhuman talent for visualization, boy. Your will to create is unmatched by any I have met, and I cannot fathom the concentration required to manifest thousands upon thousands of such strange objects of so highly purified internal energy in such a short time. They shine so brightly that even their shape eludes me. I couldn’t even keep track of the arrangements, and the end result is blindingly pure… Do your thoughts never wander from your goals? Is your mind never clouded?”
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Micro looked up at the excited old man and shrugged.
“Thinking in general is still new to me. I just made the best place I could think of to park my soul, and left some room for the extra energy.” He explained, feeling more energetic than ever before.
“So you did what you had to do…” The sect leader grinned.
“As simple as that?”
“Well, it took some getting used to, but the instructions were clear.” Micro replied happily.
“Thanks, baldy.”
The cultivators in the room all looked in shock at Micro for a moment, baffled by both his manner or addressing the sect leader and the sincerity with which he did so. The sect leader himself made a conflicted expression, but was interrupted before he could continue.
“Pffffft!” a high pitch sound rang out.
“Bahaha! Baldy! Stinking cultivators. Oh, humans…”
Everyone in the room turned to see Blue sitting on Kel’s head, holding a Core Card under one arm and laughing uncontrollably.
“What’s wrong, boy?” She asked sarcastically as she hopped directly from Kel’s head to Micro’s shoulder.
“Every time I wake up from a nap, you’re either bleeding or exploding!”
“Sorry, Blue.” Micro replied.
“Where's Trill?”
“He’s in your pocket.” She pointed at the right breast pocket of his new clothes, and a small yellow hand poked out in reply, only one finger of which was raised.
“You’re slow as mud, eh?”
“The card…!” The sect leader suddenly grasped at his own pocket, searching for something frantically.
“Like taking treasure from a cultivator, baldy!” Blue laughed while flaunting the card at him, waving it over her head.
“This is mine, anyway! How dare some baldy take my things?!”
The room filled with tension as her tone grew slightly more serious, but her mood mellowed out with a yawn, and she hopped wordlessly into Micro’s other pocket along with her core card.
“You…” the sect leader stuttered. He spoke with a hint of fear in his eyes.
“You may call me master… If it suits you…”
“But Rose already offered…” Micro replied apologetically.
“She’s very talented.”
“Rose…” The sect leader sighed.
“I’m afraid she will be joining you in your studies. It seems some of the basics have escaped her…”
“So you’ll be my master?” Micro asked tentatively.
“If you’ll have me.” The old man smiled.
“And you’ll teach me to eat Core Cards?!” Micro asked with increasing excitement.
“That…” the sect leader stuttered.
“I’ll help you with Core Cards, yes.”
The cultivators watching the conversation unfold began to break their dumbfounded silence with whispers of disbelief, but none dared to question the sect leader’s decision.
“Master, how are you feeling?” Kel asked with concern.
“Do you feel any instability at all?”
“Umm…” Micro thought for a moment, poking himself in the chest several times before nodding.
“I feel like I just went through a gas station car wash. I’m clean, but my ears are still ringing…”
“By the way…” The sect leader suddenly narrowed his eyes and emitted an intimidating aura that filled the room in the blink of an eye. He looked around at the cultivators, and Micro wondered what it was about the sect leader that made him seem so much bigger than he really was sometimes.
“Nobody speaks of what they saw here.”
“Yes, master!” The cultivators all replied in unison, at which point the sect leader relaxed his aura and waved them away.
“Get some rest, young ones…” He said dismissively.
“As for you, Micro. I’ll have you accompany Kel to his quarters for the evening. He’ll keep an eye on you in case anything… unpredictable… should happen.”
He looked over his shoulder at Rose, who was still sitting on the steps outside the broken doorway with wide, watery eyes.
“You’re skilled beyond your years, Rose…” He sighed.
“But you compensate with your discretion… You may return to your duties now. We’ll discuss your studies in the morning.”
She nodded once, then retreated down the steps on wobbly legs. With one final sigh, he turned to Micro, Kel, and Tae.
“I’d expect no less excitement from three, no, four new holders of the Turtle Art Core Card.” He spoke as a grin formed slowly on his face.
“Very interesting times. Very interesting times indeed…”
~
After the sect had returned to normal and several disciples had been dispatched to clean the mysterious mess in the guest room, Tae returned to her duties elsewhere and Kel guided Micro back to his own personal quarters.
“I had almost finished telling my grandfather of our travels together when we heard the explosion.” He explained through a yawn.
“Forgive me for having immediately assumed it was you, but I’m relieved to see you in good health, better than ever in fact.”
“I do feel pretty good.” Micro replied.
“I want more honey buns.”
“They’ll arrive first thing in the morning, master.” Kel promised.
“I’ll see to it personally.”
After passing through the courtyard again, Kel led Micro through a large entrance in the side of the mountain. It opened up to a large cavern, decorated with even more statues of turtles and many beautiful paintings of the local landscape. What caught Micro’s eye the quickest though was featured in the centre of a large cavern, well lit by numerous torches and surrounded by statues.
“A dungeon portal?” Micro gasped.
“Oh, right.” Kel replied casually.
“That’s the entrance to the Jade Fire Mountain Art dungeon. It’s a permanent portal as far as we know. That’s why our sect’s temple was erected here.”
Micro had entered the shimmering gate before Kel had even finished his explanation.