Morning came quickly for Micro after enjoying the deepest sleep he’d ever experienced, though his experience with sleep was still minimal. He awoke to the sound of tea filling a cup near his head, and he opened his eyes to the same girl he’d previously failed to greet.

“Thanks…” He said through a stifled yawn.

“Thanks for the tea…”

However, the girl only bowed her head, placed the cup of tea in front of him next to a tray of food he hadn’t even noticed before, and turned to leave in a hurry.

“Forgive the girl…” Kel called out to Micro from across the room. He sat with his hands in front of him with a jade core card floating about them, a sight Micro recognized from the cave. However, as he watched, the core card suddenly glowed brighter than ever before, then vanished.

“What happened to your core card?” Micro asked.

“I have finally incorporated its teachings into my soul, master.” Kel smiled widely.

“I have begun to fully comprehend the nature of the appraisal skill.

“What can you do with that?” Micro continued.

“It will allow me to better discern the true nature of things.” Kel explained.

“But that is not important now.”

Kel then turned to the door which Sara had just slammed shut.

“Sara has a particular aversion to pixies, you see…”

“Why?” Micro asked as he scooped up a bowl of meat and rice.

“Her mother is a senior disciple of the sect.” Kel explained, putting away the card he had been meditating over.

“She challenges the Jade Fire Mountain Art dungeon often, and she has taken many rewards for her troubles over the years. Many of the cards were of great benefit to her family, but there was an incident.”

“An incident?” Micro mumbled with a mouthful of food.

“She claims that upon discovering the rarest card she’d ever seen in a dungeon, a pixie appeared the moment she crossed through the gate into our world and stole it from her.” Kel said with a sad gaze.

“It was a shameful day for the sect, but pixies are dangerous creatures, and such things are known to occur. She has yet to rediscover the card…”

“That doesn’t sound like something a pixie would do.” Micro asserted.

“I’m sure it was a misunderstanding.”

“You idiot.” Blue’s voice suddenly chimed in. She jumped out of his pocket, landed on his shoulder, and stretched her arms and wings.

“That kid in your other pocket literally just stole all your cards.”

“Oh, he did.” Micro nodded with wide eyes.

“Blue, was it?” Kel addressed the pixie with a stoic expression.

“Hmm?” She looked at him over her shoulder with one eye closed.

“Might I ask, if I may…” He mumbled.

“Why do pixies do such cruel things?”

“Heh?” She blurted out while scratching her ear.

“Why do creatures with no use for the possessions of cultivators insist on using their terrifying power to torment and steal from us?” He continued with a bitter expression.

“Even going so far as to set fires or dig up gardens…”

“Why?” She scoffed.

“Why not? Ah, I guess the war was before your time, kiddo.”

“What war…?” Kel asked in confusion.

“I keep forgetting how young you all are!” Blue groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Well you won it, alright? So stop being a sore winner.”

“We won a war… with you?” Kel tilted his head to the side as he asked.

“But you torment us still! Why!?”

“Why?” She wondered aloud.

“Who cares? It depends on the pixie. Revenge? Spite? Fun? It passes the time.”

“Passes the time…?”

“You wouldn’t understand what it’s like to have so much of it.” Blue sighed as she stretched her back.

“Wow, I can’t believe how tired I am. Maybe I don’t have much time left after all.”

“Are you okay?” Micro asked.

“Hmm?” She mumbled as she jumped back into his pocket to resume whatever activities she filled her time with.

“Oh, I’ll still outlive you. That’s the plan, anyway.”

“That’s a relief.” Micro said, more relaxed than before.

Micro stood up and stretched his own arms and legs as soon as he was finished eating, then realized Kel was still sitting motionless with a complicated look in his eyes.

“Kel?” He called out once.

“Kel!”

“What?” Kel replied as he returned from his thoughts.

“Oh, forgive me, master. Yes, we should go. Grandfather wished to give you a proper introduction to our sect’s arts. Normally he doesn’t take direct disciples, but you already hold a Jade Turtle Art Core Card, and you appear to have no issues utilizing the elemental energies of fire, so he’s excited to accept you as a student. Tae will also be joining us today.”

“I can finally learn how to eat core cards properly!” Micro celebrated.

“Properly, indeed.” Kel nodded.

“And you’ll learn to be more aware of the aura you emit. The shield you erected to protect yourself in the Turtle Art Dungeon must be tiring to maintain. You may wish to lower your output when you can, or you may one day find yourself depleted.”

“I need to be more efficient…” Micro replied with a sad expression, and he quickly returned to his core, now a much more familiar shape, and regulated the amount of energy flowing here and there.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“There, that should be fine.”

“You’ll also learn how to do that without entering a deep state of meditation every time, master.” Kel continued, his excitement returning.

“You have much to learn.”

~

Kel wasted no time in ushering Micro out the door after taking a moment to wash himself, then led him back outside. Though Micro eyed the dungeon entrance intensely as they walked by, he diligently followed Kel.

They first walked up the stairs which led to the former guest room, passing it uneventfully on their way up to a much higher platform. Micro enjoyed the view for a moment, but their climb became steeper very quickly, and he didn’t hesitate to voice his dislike of travelling uphill.

By the time the sun was high enough to warm the mountain air, they had nearly reached the summit. Near the summit however, there was a large flat area, paved with stones and decorated with the same turtle statues Micro had grown used to seeing everywhere on the mountain. Waiting for him and Kel at the centre of the paved area were the sect leader, Tae, and Rose. Tae and the sect leader looked pleased to see Micro appear over the ridge, though Rose looked slightly uncomfortable. The sect leader gestured to them to be seated with a wave of his hand.

Kel, Micro, Tae, and Rose sat in a line in front of the sect leader, who was using a large rock as a chair.

“Kel, Micro, and Tae.” He began with a heavy voice.

“You three have proven yourself worthy to inherit the highest arts of the sect. Kel and Tae, I believe you know what you have to do.”

“Yes, grandfather.” Kel replied, while Tae simply bowed to indicate her understanding.

“We shall meditate at the mountain’s peak until we have mastered the Jade Fire Turtle Art.”

“Indeed, you shall.” The sect leader confirmed. With a hint of a grin.

“It may take you an hour, but it may take you a lifetime. However, I am optimistic.”

“Thank you grandfather.” Kel joined Tae in a deep bow.

“Then I will leave Micro in your care, sect leader.”

“And I hope my sister will earn your mercy, sect leader.” Tae added with a sideways glance to the awkward Rose.

Kel and Tae then got up to leave, smiling to Micro as they passed him, and made the short trek up to the peak of the mountain where they sat down and began to meditate on their cards. Rose appeared even more uncomfortable now that her sister was gone, but Micro looked excitedly at the sect leader.

“Micro, I have heard a great deal about you from Kel.” He rose from his stone seat and walked to the centre of the paved area as he spoke.

“You display inhuman levels of patience, diligence, perseverance, and many other attributes essential to a cultivator.”

“Thanks, master!”

“It is apparent that you were a powerful student in your world.” He continued.

“And your master was indeed a figure beyond our comprehension, but it is clear that your training was not complete. Is that a fair assessment?”

“Training?” Micro replied with a tilted head.

“I just did my job.”

“So you were still practicing the fundamentals of your art when you were summoned, and yet you have already achieved such power…” The sect leader mused.

“Then you will not be offended when I suggest that you are still lacking in some areas.”

Micro just nodded and smiled in reply, eagerly awaiting the sect leader’s next words.

“Your courage and your will are both hampered by your lack of discretion.” He said with a serious tone.

“Discretion?”

“While you are true to your goals, you appear blind to the obstacles which keep you from achieving them. You walk a straight path to your goals even when the path itself is not straight.” He explained while moving his hands through the air to illustrate his point.

“And you press forward toward your destination at a constant speed, but there are times in every journey when one must slow down or stop.”

“But there are no stop signs or traffic lights anywhere!” Micro interjected with a look of sincere frustration. His eyes began to water slightly as he explained.

“And Blue only tells me which way to go. I’ve never had to set my own speed or apply my own brakes before. I only did what was needed of me, efficiently and reliably…”

“I’m sorry that you were parted from your master before you learned such things.” The sect leader replied with a sympathetic tone.

“But the signs you speak of are all around you, even if they are not the ones you are familiar with.”

“Really?” Micro asked with raised eyebrows.

“Indeed.” The sect leader nodded.

“Let’s take the amber dungeon you almost jumped into as an example. Upon reflection, can you think of any signs you missed which may have encouraged you to stop what you were doing?”

“Stop signs…” Micro thought to himself for a moment, and his eyes lit up.

“It was a yellow light!”

“Precisely.” The sect leader nodded.

“Sometimes the signs are as simple as that. However, what were the signs that you should not allow such an inexperienced cultivator as Rose to teach you to refine your core?”

“But Rose is very talented!” Micro said as he turned to smile at Rose, though Rose was unwilling to look back at him.

“You are unaware that her reckless instructions nearly resulted in your death and hers?”

“Reckless?”

“In her haste, she failed to account for the nature of your soul before instructing you to dismantle your core. Without knowledge of such things, she assumed the process would be as simple for you as it was for her. Her inexperience and youth would alert most to the dangers of following her guidance in such important matters as core refining…”

“That sign…” Micro stuttered as he raised his hand to his head.

“That one hurts my brain a little.”

“Fear not.” The sect leader reassured him.

“You will grow accustomed to both the abilities and the limitations of your new vessel in time. Though your soul remains a constant, your mind will no doubt be full of new thoughts and ideas. Your nature will remain unchanged, but the way you view this world will be as new to you as the world itself. Although the magicians use vile means of creating such vessels, yours does appear capable of functioning as any other cultivator’s physical being.”

“So, I’m not broken?”

“Far from broken, you are an exceptional young specimen.” The sect leader laughed.

“And the thoughts I have… And feelings…?”

“You will master those as well, in time. If your goal remains to find your way home, then I am certain you will learn much about yourself in the process. Now, it feels shameful to teach one as strong as you the fundamentals, but we must begin.”

“Okay!”

“It appears you have some understanding of how to circulate your internal energies, but forming a shield of aura is the most you’ve been able to do, correct?”

“That’s right, like a radiator.” Micro answered.

“Kel taught me how to do it in a cave.”

“Very good. Rose, come here, please.” The sect leader nodded, then beckoned Rose to his side. She did so quickly but with a bitter expression.

“Rose will demonstrate a more versatile technique for you now. Rose, remove your shield and begin the elementary internal energy circulation exercise.”

Rose looked embarrassed as she removed the shield from her back, setting it on the ground nearby, and then placed her hands together. She closed her eyes tight and almost immediately began to glow. Micro looked more intently at her, and realized the aura around her was actually swirling around her like countless rivers of fire.

“You can see the energy moving?” The sect leader asked Micro casually.

“Yes, like fire.” He replied while watching ever more intently.

“A good observation.” the sect leader applauded.

“Rose is demonstrating the most fundamental of exercises, meant to practice control over one’s own internal energy. Moving it throughout your body without allowing it to escape, as yours does now, is the first step toward an endless world of techniques.”

“What about core cards, then?” Micro asked.

“Don’t you need those for learning skills?”

“A common misconception, but not entirely false…” The sect leader stroked his mustache and continued.

“I may be getting ahead of myself. Kel said cultivation was not practiced the same way in your world.”

“Fuel is more straightforward there, at least…” Micro agreed.

“What a rare opportunity…” The sect leader smiled.

“Let us start at the beginning.”

“The beginning?”

“Yes, the very beginning…” He grinned.

“The origin of cultivation as we know it…”