Caretaker Ciemnosc

"Are you really our teacher?" One of the new students on their seats asked, his arm raised all high, right before Ciemnosc could even say anything at all. He couldn't be blamed. Anyone waiting for months for a single teacher to at least start giving classes in this department suddenly having such a young-looking teacher would leave them strange and without any thoughts other than surrealism.

Ciemnosc looked at the boy. He wasn’t a young man yet but was close. When the boy felt the supposed teacher’s gaze. Though he somewhat felt that Ciemnosc was younger than him and thus less noteworthy, he also felt pressure despite having his cultivation of the Spiritual Ligament 1st stage.

“Yes, I am your teacher.” Ciemnosc clearly said, his words spoke flatly but with a clear intonation to it that made everyone inside who heard it understand that there was nothing to it but the truth. The doors to the one and only entrance and exit of the main classroom could be opened at any time. And Ciemnosc didn’t bother prohibiting anyone already inside from leaving nor those who wanted to come in from the outside after he declared the start of the class.

“But can you show us that you really are our teacher then?” The boy asked again, his voice now sounding a bit more ‘mature’, becoming louder and deeper though obviously by forcing it. Ciemnosc felt breathless at the cheeky little son of a bitch, but he responded calmly and just straightened his back, crossed his arms, and spoke flatly yet again. “I don’t need to. But if everyone here is willing, ask me anything you have been curious about for long.”

“Okay then,” the boy responded right away, not letting himself be any lower nor as ‘important looking’ as possible before asking. His eyes went up to the ceiling for a moment before he started his question, his grin forming midways through his grinning lips. “How do I quickly become an Obsidafying realm expert?”

“Curious; and that makes sense for someone of this level to be asking.” Ciemnosc’s indifferent eyes looked at the boy without showing any other face, but his words made the boy’s face fall and caused some students to chuckle.

“How about!... How about…” Amid the chuckling students, the boy raised his voice suddenly, making a sudden pause as nervousness crept over him. “What is the fastest way to let the body advance through the Spiritual Ligment realm without depending on treasures?”

“Treasures like plants or higher realms Creatures? Oh,” Ciemnosc tilted his head to the right looking at the boy, asking back with his left eyebrow raising before slowly letting it fall down. It was rhetorical, and afterwards, Ciemnosc began answering while taking into consideration the ‘Natal Spirit’ not being generally understood, but also putting himself in a challenge to explain it without being blunt nor ‘breaking’ that rule. It also wouldn’t help the students to suddenly be spoken about something they didn’t really have a word about before.

For all Ciemnosc knew, only the peak of the Obsidiafying realm had an inkling towards the Natal Spirit, which was possibly the way that gramma Jing Zhu managed to breakthrough into ‘the next’ realm.

“Spiritual Ligament changes your body, in and out, rewarding you with an impossible strength for any living being that is ordinary when completed at a full. Before that, all you have to do to breakthrough the stages is to consume pure energy over and over again. You have no Links there, nor is your Psychogenic or Dantian formed. It is only you and pure energy, so do that. Make sure you become aware of the circulation of your cultivation method and aware of your own body’s familiarity with the pure energy that flows through you.”

“Physical training won’t help much. It would only give you a little boost in understanding your body more. The cultivators I have killed are many, and a lot of them didn’t even understand their body’s potential because of what they thought they knew, ignoring what they could’ve understood of themselves; by themselves.” Up to here, Ciemnosc’s words silenced the boy, who in turn behaved like a little kid being given his first life lesson or smelling delicious food for the first time.

“Whether it is the east or the west, I see that the reliance and dependence on books from long ago are present. That’s not good, especially if you think that cultivation has already been discovered when nobody has been able of crossing through the Obsidiafying realm peak and ascending to the unknown.”

Ciemnosc changed his tone at this time, no longer flat, but alike; and with a touch of a scold. “The Spiritual Ligament is just the beginning, and it offers you no further power whatsoever, instead, it grants you an oppressive force of 2,000 kg strength all over your body. Even your nails would be able to dig through the earth and mark builders however you want without the help of Power Energy. That is the reward for knowledge that cultivating gives you.”

Ciemnosc’s tone was the same, but it was a little colder this time. “The first 3 cultivation realms of the 7 are generally still leaving you at the mercy of a gun or an explosion that would easily kill an ordinary person as well. You only have the chance to keep going, and even Obsidiafying realms can be bombarded with pure energy as long as they do everything in their hands to protect themselves. If they were to just treat an explosion of pure energy lightly… hm.”

Ciemnosc looked at the murmuring students. They weren’t being inattentive but were so engrossed that they felt the need to talk to others in low volumes to make sure they weren’t imagining things. They were so low as if they didn’t want Ciemnosc to notice.; not because of not wanting to be scolded by a younger person, only. But so that he would continue without interruption.

“I was once let known of a thing when I was just starting cultivating.” Ciemnosc’s eyes reminisced for a moment before continuing, “These realms are just like the beginning. They are not granting you the power that ordinary people think we have right away as soon as we start cultivating. Instead, we work hard to prove we deserve it.”

“You can even say… that these realms are the ‘first’ step of cultivation. Each realm is independent instead of being piled up together and quickly granting anyone capable enough power. It is… somewhat of a training.” Ciemnosc said, dramatically making a pause right then and there.

“What training, teach? Who is training us?” The little girl at the front asked, her eyes bigger now and shining brighter. Ciemnosc lowered his chin and looked at her, noticing her shining growing almost blindingly when he did. He smirked and answered, “Nature.”

Murmur, murmur, murmur…

“The Spiritual Ligament hints at you of an important connection with your body… and more. “ Ciemnosc interrupted the murmuring this time, his voice and the contents of his words gaining much more attention now. “You have to make sure, besides gaining knowledge and recognition if you can of that particular, special connection… that you also strengthen those senses you have towards it. In the future, they will bring you fruits that not even the eastern cultivators can comprehend.”

“Within each stage, 10% of that connection is made. If you fail to notice the change every time, whose truth will only be yours to understand, then you are already cultivating mindlessly. And that is exactly what the nature of all that is around you disdains. Doing so doesn’t mean not reaching the peak of the Obsidiafying realm or possibly the next realm after that. But if one was to compare themselves in the future that had that kind of understanding of themselves to those who didn’t… the result would be catastrophic.”

“You gain 100 kg per stage, for a final result of 1,000 kg, but can still be wrestled to death by even ordinary beings. Let alone bullets, explosions, or a collapsing building, even if just short. Your bodies become not tougher. You just learn how to manipulate your own body at its best as you become slightly stronger without needing to train. You can continue to grow that strength, but it would be minimal to the progress of one’s stage. Unless you are with certain potential or talent.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Kevin,” Ciemnosc addressed the boy, “If you want to cultivate fast and efficiently, you will always have to solidify your foundation after every stage. In this way, you may take weeks or months longer than others. But those others that didn’t solidify their foundation will have more errors in their path while you will be steadily walking without a hurry. They might trip, but you on the other hand… would trample them all down.”

“!!!” The crowd of students, his students, had their eyes grow so big they could fit goose eggs inside of them. It was true even for the little girl and the 3 young women who accompanied her all along. Their skin was somewhat numb. Their hairs, on their end. Their blood, running and seething as much as they could. And their brains and hearts seemed to form an incredible link to each other that even Ciemnosc could sense.

At this moment, students immediately stood up. These were those that had already been cultivating for a while. Some were old, some alright, and some very young. All of them had a common expression of anxiety on their faces. But Kevin spoke first than anybody else, “Sir, but what if someone had been cultivating without solidifying their cultivation base, their foundation?! I have a big sister who is already in the Spiritual Condensation realm 2nd stage. But I remember she didn’t take much time to… solidify her foundation and was told by her teachers that she was doing really good.”

“However! A few days ago, she almost lost half her stage’s cultivation base when she was calmly cultivating in her room. What can be done?!” The good younger brother was worried sick, and this time, he didn’t bother about his image for the sake of his sister.

“There are two ways; both are extreme. That is solely if your sister wishes to do it, though.” Ciemnosc indifferently said, not a small smile or grin could be seen on his face without the little girl’s intervention and little questions. Kevin, on the other hand, implored right away. “Please tell me, teacher!”

“Mn,” Ciemnosc hummed before falling silent and letting all the other students who stood up, Kevin included, sit back down in respect of him and his knowledge. Also, because Ciemnosc seemed eccentric, and only in that way would he continue. Their instincts paid off.

“The most simple, but painful in both mentality and physical, is that of ruining one’s cultivation base and starting over again.” Ciemnosc spoke without a hurry yet, at the end of his words, Kevin’s shout traveled all the way down the podium with some rage. “What?!”

“These two options are good not only for those like your big sister, but it is also the best opportunity for those who are old or halfway through the Spiritual Ligament realm.” At Ciemnosc’s words, the older students around, each with their own story, boring, sad, tragic or dull, became so focused on him that Kevin didn’t find the bravery to keep interrupting.

“If one ruins their own cultivation, they can restore it. Even if they were in the Obsidiafying realm, though I have never witnessed or read anything about someone in that level doing it.” Ciemnosc continued, but there were other sorts of words in his mind. ‘Except for Lady Calisneia, perhaps.’

“It will be the most painful of the two methods, as it is with any other kind of self-induced torture. But it will be worth it, provided the individual keeps a mind of steel and a hardened heart. Without willpower, why even cultivate in the first place? It is not an office job, much less an occupation to make a little bit of a living.” Ciemnosc continued, his voice a bit more colder now.

“The other method is to go on a journey. She needs to either face extreme danger and find her own path from her already erroneous ways. She can’t simply know how to do better and believe to be fine just because she is aware of her mistakes. Though it is also her teachers’ responsibility, it is she who ultimately listened to their every word.”

“After committing such mistakes, without risking anything off, she might as well just stop cultivating and let her path end there.” Ciemnosc concluded, letting Kevin and a bunch of others feel down. But they’ll have to face it, rather sooner than later if they desired to be something, somebody; now.

“Now that we are already talking of the cultivation realms let me speak about the 2nd realm. Then we’ll leave the cultivation realms there for now and continue with some of the other classes’ specifics. Tomorrow, or another day, we can continue with more cultivation realms.” Ciemnosc said after noticing the worried frowns on the students’ faces. As well as the endless excitement from others, which were from those that never cultivated before in their entire lives and were of varying ages.

“The second realm of this ‘first step’ is named the Spiritual Condensation realm.” Ciemnosc walked around the podium to stand before it, his back leaning backwards onto it, then continued. “When breaking through to this realm, the 1,000 kg of strength in one’s body immediately increases to a 2,000 kg bodily strength.”

“It is accomplished, the breakthrough, after gaining 100% connection with everything inside their bodies. The lifespan increases from 180 years in the Spiritual Ligament realm to a lifespan of 270 years. And the cultivators of that realm can now count with a little defense to their bodies. They might resist bullets and knives, but blunt weapons can still crush your organs, and explosions would blow you away; and into pieces.”

“This realm is much easier than the Spiritual Ligament realm. One only needs to accumulate enough Power Energy in their body to cross through stages. But,” Ciemnosc looked in Kevin’s direction, who was now hearing even more attentively than before, not feeling so down anymore. “As I just said, without solidifying one’s foundation, stabilizing one’s cultivation base, and comprehending your own cultivation path, it is an invalid path towards cultivation in general.”

“The more you cultivate like this, the more your path becomes unshakable. When you breakthrough into the next realm, the ‘connection’ you made with ‘your everything’ in the Spiritual Ligament realm will become the major factor of how much Power Energy growth you’ll have. How much manipulation of it you could have in the future, if you continue to cultivate as it must be, and if you falter not against erroneous ideals and words.”

“Okay, now. From the classes about a cultivator’s necessity for tools. Who has any quest-” Ciemnosc immediately changed his words and posture as he proceeded to stand properly behind the podium, facing them. He spoke his suddenly changing words with a coldness and flatness that just made it hard for anyone to teasingly hoot or jeer at him.

Instead, before his words were fully spoken, there were already people screaming for his attention. And so, the next section of his long hours of class began…

. . .

Hours passed, it was now evening, late evening outside the department for new students.

Ciemnosc walked out of the main entrance first, followed by the little more than a couple thousand students whose legs all felt light and from their spine up to their napes were even lighter, feeling s if they could fly the next moment. Following their little teacher, they then parted ways and there were 2 strands of rivers flowing in separate directions. Some to the east and some to the west from the precinct’s entrance.

Some were moving where buses were a huge lot and were actually waiting for them to come out so that they could board them. Without Ciemnosc and 11 months passing by since the start of the war, this wouldn’t be happening. Not only the whole academy could make use of these, but even the new students could also, which could be seen as they all freely entered certain buses without them getting that crowdy except for some that went in large groups of buddies and friends.

Ciemnosc was looking at the little girl with 2 ponytails as she was being received in the arms of a woman with a vestment of supervisors. She was a beautiful middle-aged woman without any signs of aging, red-brown smooth hair with a single lock of hair starting from the front of her hair and with its tip at the right side of her face right above her jaw.

As she picked up the little girl, chubby and who buried her face into the beautiful woman’s sternum, in the middle of those modest breasts, she noticed Ciemnosc looking at her with evident glints across his eyes. Smiling big time at him, she stepped close to her and spoke once they were just 4 steps away from each other, her face tilting down to look at the devilishly charming boy a little bit.

“Thank you for taking care of Sha. I reckon she was a good girl? I heard of your knowledge a week ago, and I placed this little one there. I couldn’t feel at ease if I didn’t.” The woman said to Ciemnosc, who reacted by looking back at her, a bit perplexed. ‘Is this the first time I’m being treated politely by someone? Err, weird.’

“I didn’t take care of her, but she behaved well.” Ciemnosc decided to answer at last. The beautiful woman stuttered a little before bidding farewell to him; politely again. “Aah- uh… haha… I see. I’m glad then, I heard that your petition for a Creature-renting service around the lower floors of the mountain was accepted and that it was within the range you wanted, so you might get a good surprise back at your bedroom.”

“I’ll be counting on you to make this little girl into a big, powerful, scary cultivator, alright?” The woman finished saying as she drifted farther away from Ciemnosc, her back facing him. It was then that the little girl, Sha, exclaimed and acted like a monster with her chubby face, well-fed, contorting. “Me big and stronk! I will be like Genius Ciemnosc and kill the east with my haeaeart! Grooowl…”

“Aight, aight, there there.” The middle-aged woman’s words could be barely heard by an ordinary person’s hearing with this distance away as her hand palmed the little girl’s back. She was sure to feed this small, weak, growing future cultivator a lot so that she would fall asleep real fast.

As Ciemnosc looked at the departing backs of the 2 figures, with the little girl sitting on the woman’s right arm and facing their front, he snorted ever so slightly through his nostrils before turning around and started to walk under the illuminated night streets of the academy back home. He was, indeed, excited to see his license. Fully approved and exactly where he wanted it!

…