“That’s enough… Rose…” The sect master said, doing his best to compose himself before the three students before him.
“Yes, master…” Rose quietly replied.
“Alright, Micro and…” He began.
“Blue.” Blue informed him politely.
“Blue… The two of you have experienced internal energy in some unorthodox ways, so it shouldn’t be difficult to walk you through the first exercise.” He explained while raising one hand in front of him, his palm pointing to the sky.
“Tell me what you see in my hand.”
“Nothing…” Micro replied after squinting his eyes for a moment.
“No, there’s something there… But…” Blue added, also struggling to see what it was.
“I see the pixie has a natural talent for perceiving energy, but it is an unrefined talent.” The sect leader explained curiously.
“Micro, try looking with your mind’s eye.”
“My mind’s eye?”
“It’s what you use to perceive the immaterial world. The place where you may observe your own energies and spirit.”
“Oh, that. Okay.” Micro replied as he closed his eyes and began to meditate.
“Oh, Hello Blue.”
“Hi.” She replied, having somehow followed him into the world with more than just her voice.
“Now…” The old man’s voice rang out in the dark world.
“Don’t try reaching for the pure energy of the world all at once. Focus on the life force that fills the air and all things… The energy that binds us and fills our every breath…”
Following the sect leader’s guidance, Micro began to notice the same little flickering lights all around him that Rose had introduced him to the previous evening. They swirled around in the wind, bouncing off of surfaces, interacting with each other, and passing through him occasionally. As the physical world’s shape began to emerge among the chaos of energies, Micro then noticed the silhouette of the sect leader in front of him with a bright light floating above his hand. He looked a little closer and noticed the shape of a turtle.
“It’s a-” Micro tried to answer.
“What is it with you and turtles?! Bahaha…” Blue interrupted with her own answer.
“You were both able to see it clearly?” The sect leader asked, ignoring the rude remark.
“Yes, it looks like the little turtles I met in the dungeon!” Micro replied.
“There was a guy like that, wasn’t there…” Blue recalled.
“He was really noisy! I can’t count the number of times he woke me up!”
“That’s really fast…” Rose muttered from the side.
“Indeed, even when compared with such a prodigious talent as yours…” The sect leader added.
“Take a seat beside them, Rose. Your reintroduction to the fundamentals is far from over…”
“Yes, master…” Rose replied with a bow. She walked by Blue in a hurry and sat on the other side of Micro.
“The next step is to be able to do the same with your eyes open.” He continued.
“The pixie seems to have a natural ability to perceive energy, but it is limited.”
“Watch your tone, baldy.” Blue quipped.
“I believe your natural form may function similarly to a core, meaning your internal energies are constantly flowing throughout your body, however…”
“However…?” She repeated with a suspicious look.
“It is chaotic in nature, perhaps appropriately so…”
“Listen here, you stinking-” She began to stand up in anger, but the sect leader pressed forward with his lesson.
“With a core, you may just be able to better control the energy you have.” He asserted.
“Though your natural abilities are terrifying, you would be able to enhance your senses greatly by properly channeling the energy inside you. Your core is meant for such a thing.”
“Hmm…” Blue grumbled as she sat back down on top of her core card.
“Observe, if you will…” The sect leader said as he began to draw circles in the air with his hands, and they began to glow. Then, he placed his hands in front of him, took a deep breath, and his eyes began to glow.
“Is that one of those skills?” Blue asked.
“On the contrary.” He replied.
“I am consciously moving my internal energy from one part of my body to another. This allows me to strengthen my body, enhance my senses, and to perceive the immaterial without entering such a deep state of meditation.”
“So you can see both worlds at the same time?” Micro asked.
“The dark world, and this world…?”
“Correct.” The sect leader answered.
“The first step is to practice moving your internal energies with intent. It is often compared to learning to move a new limb. It will take concentration at first, but you will find it gets easier with-”
“Oh, this is amazing!” Micro shouted with glowing eyes.
“How did I never think of this before?!” Blue added excitedly.
The two looked around at the world with glowing eyes, waving their hands around and playing with the particles of light that surrounded them. Micro’s eyes couldn't stop wandering here and there, seeing the world through new eyes for the second time. The sect leader questioned his own eyes as he observed the odd pair in front of him moving energy from one hand to the other as if it were a toy.
“You haven’t done this before, have you?” He wondered aloud.
“Your instructions were clear.” Micro replied happily with a glowing thumbs up.
“What, you think a pixie can’t do everything a cultivator can and more?” Blue taunted him, mimicking Micro’s thumbs up.
“Then we’ll move on…” He cleared his throat and moved the lesson along.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“You have already experienced the process of core refining, but I was told you have minimal experience with reinforcing your core with external sources of energy.”
“Oh, like this?” Micro replied as he moved his open hand through the air, catching some of the little particles of light in his palm, and then pressed it into his chest with a crude motion. Some of the light splashed out as it was pressed between his hand and his chest, but the sect leader confirmed that some of it had indeed been incorporated into the boy’s oddly shaped core.
“Rose…” He said softly to Rose while Micro and Blue continued to swipe energy from the air and thump it into their chests like apes.
“Would you please demonstrate a more… traditional approach…”
“Yes…” She replied with an equal amount of disbelief.
“Micro, it’s more like this.
Micro turned to see Rose lifting her hands in front of her with a fluid motion and remaining almost perfectly still. Some of the energy that swirled around her gradually seemed to become attracted to her, like mosquitoes being drawn to the headlights of a parked car.
“How is she doing that?” Micro asked with wide eyes.
“Ya, what’s the deal?” Blue added.
“Elemental forces are drawn to energy of the same element. Likewise, they are repelled by other elements.” The sect leader explained.
“Rose has an affinity to the fire element. With a stable aura, energy will find its way to her without any effort on her part. And the more of one elemental energy you possess, the more it will be drawn to you.”
“So you cover yourself in energy, and more will stick to you…?” Micro replied with a strained expression. However, it wasn’t long before he had coated himself with a thin layer of the energy within him and was successfully drawing in a steady flow of ambient energies.
“Oh, this feels familiar!”
“I’d be surprised if it were anyone else…” The sect leader grinned.
“It would appear you have an affinity to all six elemental forces… And you, Blue…”
Rose, Micro, and the sect leader turned to look at Blue, whose own aura was attracting energy that flickered and sparked.
“Only as dangerous a creature as you would possess an affinity to both the light and dark forces of the world at the same time… Truly a creature of chaos…” He sighed.
“To think the Jade Fire Turtle Art was bestowed to such a creature…”
“No, wait…!” Blue mumbled with a frustrated tone as her wings began to vibrate.
“I can… do… this…”
With a small burst of energy, she was suddenly shrouded in a similar aura to Micro.
“There we go.” She announced with a sigh of relief.
“The last four were tricky, but who do you think I am?”
“It’s unfair…!” Rose suddenly cried with watery eyes.
“They just started, and yet…!”
“You said it felt familiar…” The weary sect leader remarked.
“What did you mean by that? I thought cultivation didn’t exist in your world…”
“It feels like when Nora pulled me through the sky after the accident.” Micro replied, still enjoying the sensation of energy pouring into him.
“But it’s much more relaxing now.”
“I see…” The sect leader replied with a thoughtful expression.
“It may be that a soul transported between worlds is exposed to more energies than we could imagine… That may explain your natural affinity to each element… As for the pixie…”
“Me?” She snapped.
“Raw talent, make no mistake!”
“I see… An otherworlder and a pixie, both capable of channeling all six elemental energies…” The sect leader concluded.
“Should I dwell on the fact that you are both my students, I may not make it through the day. Rose, you may return to your duties. Continue to be mindful of your actions and their consequences.”
“Yes, master.” Rose replied before leaving the area in a hurry. She walked quickly down the mountain with a bitter expression, not looking back as she disappeared from view.
“You two…” He addressed Micro and Blue.
“I see no reason why you shouldn’t join my grandson and his attendant in mastering the Jade Fire Turtle Art. It is a noble art and an honour to practice.”
“Finally!” Blue shouted as she stood up, grabbed hold of her card, and bit into it. The sect leader tried to stop her, but she quickly let out a yelp.
“That’s hard! And it tastes terrible!”
“It’s a divine artifact, after all…” The sect leader sighed.
“Rather than consuming it, you must open yourself up to the teachings it holds. It’s more difficult than it may seem, even for the two of you…”
“So will I be able to transform into a turtle if I eat it?” Blue asked enthusiastically.
“Or can I summon an army of turtles to do my bidding?!”
“I suppose it is only fair that I correct your wildly inaccurate impression of the noble art with a demonstration…” The sect leader smiled, apparently amused by her guesses.
“Behold…”
As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground beneath him began to shake. The stones beneath his feet cracked as though his weight was increasing drastically with every breath he took. Then, before Micro had time to guess what was going on, an ethereal armour which resembled a turtle’s shell surrounded the sect leader’s entire body. It was far superior to the armour Micro had been dressed in until recently. Every part of the sect leader’s body was completely protected by the translucent, shell-like material.
“This is the most basic application of the Turtle Art.” He declared through his armour.
“Its form varies from one person to the next, but it is most frequently used as a defensive art.”
“Trill, can I have my Turtle card?” Micro asked in the direction of his right breast pocket.
“Which one is that…?” Trill’s muffled voice rang back.
“It’s the one with a turtle on it, acorn brain!” Blue shouted up at him.
“Oh… Here…” He replied as Micro’s Jade Fire Turtle Art card jumped out of his pocket.
“Thanks, Trill.” Micro said as he caught the card in his hand.
“Listen carefully now, for Core Cards are not a trivial matter.” The sect leader explained with a stern tone.
“Core Cards are a unique way of inheriting knowledge of arts, techniques, and traits which are otherwise unknowable to mortals. You will be inviting the mysteries of the universe into your very soul, and the transformations which can occur may overwhelm you. Even those who have passed the trials of the dungeon where the card was found may ultimately fail to incorporate the teachings into their soul. Opening your core at will is difficult enough, but ”
“So I have to put the core card into my soul?” Micro asked.
“Exactly.” The sect leader nodded.
“But to transform the nature of one’s very existence requires immense will. Many are unable to bear the sacrifice required to accommodate a Core Card’s teachings.”
“Sacrifice?” Micro asked, looking at the sect leader with increased anxiety.
“Yes, it is often necessary to carve away or mold one’s soul, though some succeed in absorbing it without the need to take such extreme measures.” The sect leader explained solemnly.
“Sometimes it is better to absorb them slowly, allowing your core to expand to accommodate them, while other times the card’s mysteries become entangled in your soul, altering your being at the most fundamental level. Some people spend years absorbing the card bit by bit, while others spend their time preparing their soul itself to accommodate the card all at once.”
“Okay…” Micro replied, his face betraying his lack of understanding as the sect leader’s explanation went on. However, he was still determined to absorb as many cards as it took to find his way home.
“So I need to put it… in my soul...”
“It is an unnatural act, in a sense.” The sect leader replied.
“To attach a foreign existence, however powerful, to one’s own spirit can prove to be a painful process. But only by absorbing the card can you unlock its teachings. Now, take your cards up and concentrate.”
Blue and Micro obediently held their cards in front of them and looked and entered a deep state of meditation, blocking out the material world in favour of perceiving the card only in its immaterial form. Micro looked curiously at the card, which no longer resembled the lifeless, rectangular object he was holding a moment ago. Looking at it in the spiritual world, it looked alive. It emitted an aura like green flames that felt hot just to look at, and the simple turtle pattern now seemed full of life.
“So… I need to put that in my soul…” Micro wondered to himself while looking at the card.
“Let’s see…”
He took the card in his hand and turned his spiritual eyes to his core, once again immersing himself in it. He found himself standing beside his core, and took a moment to bask in the familiar sight of the garage he had long called home.
“I wonder if the old man would like his garage to glow like this…” He wondered with a smile. He looked down at the card in his hand, then back up at the garage. He thought for a moment, then his eyebrows raised as an idea came to him.
The garage door remote control appeared in his hand as he imagined it. He pressed the big, weathered button and waited patiently for the creaking door to open. A gust of wind burst out of the garage as the door opened, which Micro assumed to be some excess energy that he hadn’t stored properly the last time he was there, and he came face to face with a small, white truck. With the card in his hand, he walked up to his soul, kicked the front left tire, then continued around to the back.
“That should do it.” He said as he gently placed the card in the bed of the truck. It was such a simple process that he wondered if he’d done it right, but his vision suddenly blurred.