Kade knocked on the thick mahogany door of the resource management elder’s office. The elder in question was a shrewd woman in her early thirties, judging from her appearance - but looks were often deceiving when cultivation was involved.

Those who were able to break through into the spiritual assimilation realm and beyond had their lifespans extended for each stage they achieved, and the minimum requirement to become an elder of Mystic Solar Valley was to reach the fifth stage of spiritual assimilation.

“Enter.” The elder’s voice was warm and inviting - a stark contrast to her dark, icy look. She had jet black hair that was tied back into a professional bun and piercing umber eyes.

“This disciple greets Junior Elder Rose,” he said, bowing almost ninety degrees in a display of respect. “May I ask the reason I was called here today?”

“You seem particularly pleased with yourself today, Disciple Trelawney. Given that your expulsion from the sect is rather imminent, I would’ve thought you’d be in a more sombre mood,” she quipped.

Kade stiffened. He supposed he had been a little more confident than usual this morning, although he certainly had good reason to be. He couldn’t exactly reveal that he’d jumped up two entire cultivation stages overnight, or he would face suspicion rather than congratulations.

Typically, cultivators who had such rapid progression in the early stages were those with divine techniques passed down from their ancestors or those who turned to darker, demonic methods.

Given that none of his family had left the small village he used to call home for nearly twelve generations until he joined Mystic Solar Valley, the sect would obviously suspect him of the latter.

“My hard work finally paid off and I managed to achieve a breakthrough to the third stage of martial refinement this morning. I guess it has put a spring in my step,” he replied, concealing his true cultivation in order to avoid unwanted attention.

The elder nodded in approval, though her perpetually neutral expression didn’t shift one bit. “One of the reasons I called you here was to give you one final warning regarding the upcoming examinations, but it seems I was wrong in thinking you were entirely lacking in talent. There may be hope for you yet.”

“The other reason was to ask you a few questions regarding a missing disciple - an acquaintance of yours, or so I’ve heard. Senior Elder Fang’s grandson went missing last night and he claims that you were the last person to have seen him. Does that ring a bell?” She asked.

Well, that was interesting. Kade hadn’t seen that eternally frustrating thorn in his side, Byron Fang, since the last time the stuck up young master decided to come and bully Kade for his low station and pathetic talent around three days ago. Why would the Senior Elder decide to single him out as a suspect?

Even if Kade wanted to get revenge on the fool for all the years of torment he’d endured at his hands, his measly cultivation would ensure all he suffered was another beating. That was before he’d awakened the Realm Engineer System, perhaps it would be a different story now.

“I’m not quite sure why Senior Elder Fang believes that. I have not seen Young Master Fang for three days,” replied Kade.

The elders knew that there was plenty of rivalry between the disciples of the sect, often far less than friendly.

They silently allowed it to continue since it honed the strength of the younger generation before they ventured out into the world, so Elder Rose surely knew that Kade and Byron were not “acquaintances,” as she’d so delicately put it.

“It would seem that Senior Elder Fang has a low opinion of you then, Disciple Trelawney. Stay alert,” she warned, before waving him out of her office.

That was strange. Junior Elder Rose was usually cold and distant. To warn him about danger from her fellow elder was peculiar, but maybe she’d developed a soft spot for Kade after his many visits to her office. A pity project, perhaps?

Kade had two goals for the next few weeks. The first was figuring out what exactly this strange new companion in his mind was, the Realm Engineer System, as it had declared itself.

The second was consolidating his new cultivation in preparation for the inner sect examinations. Now that he actually had a chance to succeed, he was determined to make it through and advance his social standing and access to the sect’s vast resources.

He’d actually been considering leaving the sect and returning to his village for the past week or so. He knew his rate of progress was far from sufficient for the sect and he was close to expulsion.

Although he was just a second stage martial refinement cultivator, that would allow him to live an extremely cushy life in the mortal world. He could live like a prince among paupers.

Yet he’d forgotten the thrill that came with a breakthrough. The ecstasy of power was a rush like no other. His double breakthrough to the fourth stage of martial refinement reminded him of that unique feeling.

He’d seen the sect master once. At his induction ceremony, along with the hundreds of other fresh disciples, she’d addressed them briefly. Just that short moment was enough for her overwhelming aura to pressure them.

He craved that strength. Once you had a taste of the heights that cultivation could bring you to, it was nigh impossible to return to an ordinary life. Even if it meant his death he decided to strive for the peak of the mountain of strength.

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Whether the Realm Engineer System had simply provided a one time boost or if he could obtain greater rewards remained to be seen, but it had given him the confidence to work for his goals once more.

That reminded him, it was time to figure out what the Realm Engineer Gacha did. It was the only function of the system he’d unlocked aside from the previously used Fate Assimilation and the mysterious Anomaly Identification.

The information he’d acquired from the pitiful young man’s memories told him that stories about ‘systems’ were common in that other world.

The protagonists of these stories, often socially inept losers who were reincarnated or transmigrated, became mighty and powerful with the assistance of the strange assistants.

Based on the events leading up to Kade awakening the Realm Engineer System, it seemed like that young man should’ve taken over his body after that assassination attempt and received the use of the [Battle God Gacha System], whatever that was.

Instead, through coincidence or divine intervention, Kade had instead cannibalised the powers of that system for his own use. The origin of his own system was unclear, but perhaps time would reveal the answers.

He made it back to his modest house, not more than a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Every outer sect disciple received similar accommodation, as well as a meagre monthly allowance of spiritual food to promote their cultivation.

Locking the door to prevent another interruption, he took a seat on his bed and attempted to prompt the system with his mind. It responded by bringing him to the same menu as before.

Realm Engineer System

User: Kade Trelawney

Cultivation: 4th Stage Martial Refinement

Tier: 1

Functions:

Fate Assimilation

Anomaly Identification

Realm Engineer Gacha (1st Grade)

Kade prompted the system with his mind, thinking about activating the Realm Engineer Gacha. The response was rather excellent.

In that strange other world, humans played ‘gacha games’ on small windows they called phones, spending money on a lottery with poor odds to receive different coloured pictures.

It made little sense to Kade, yet thankfully the Realm Engineer Gacha seemed different. He would happily spend what little money he possessed if it would boost his cultivation like before, though that didn’t seem to be an option.

Since it is the user’s first time accessing the Realm Engineer Gacha, you have been awarded 1 free pull

In his mind he could see a small counter, currently at 1, informing him how many pulls he had available. He activated his bonus pull without delay and the sound of coins jingling rang out in his ears.

It seemed the system came with sound effects, much to his amusement. After a few seconds the jingling came to a stop, and a single phrase appeared, accompanied by trumpets and a golden glow.

Resonant Echo Staff (King Grade)

That was it. No description of the weapon or its functions. Still, Kade wasn’t the type to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially one that provided King grade weaponry.

For outer sect disciples, even getting their hands on a Mortal grade weapon would be a heaven sent blessing. Most simply used ordinary weaponry or just focused on their cultivation alone.

Forget the increase in his own cultivation thanks to the system, just this King grade staff alone would be enough to let Kade take on cultivators in the seventh or eighth stage of martial refinement on even footing.

Now, how was he supposed to actually receive the staff? Did the system have some kind of internal storage function? He tried to prompt it with his thoughts, but it appeared not to respond.

BONK.

Something hard smacked his head before clattering to the ground in front of him. The reward prompt from the gacha disappeared, returning to the original counter and title, Realm Engineer System, the counter now at 0.

A plain looking black staff capped with silver at each end lay at his feet. If not for the fact the system had told him it was a King grade item he could’ve mistaken it for an ordinary training weapon.

It seemed there was no storage function built into the system, or perhaps he just had yet to unlock it. The only problem Kade had with his brand new weapon was that he had absolutely zero clue how to use a staff.

Luckily for him, there were still a few weeks left until the examinations, during which he would need to demonstrate his martial prowess in the tournament round.

All disciples of the outer sect were allowed to study one of the techniques stored in the sect library once they reached the third stage of martial refinement.

Kade had been wondering what kind of technique to pick since achieving the requirements, but it seemed as if the system had made the decision for him.

He left his house to make his way to the library, located at the top of one of the two mountains which made up the outer sect, Starbound Peak.

All of the disciple accommodations were located on the other mountain, Sunforge Peak. The distance between the two was quite a trek and would likely take the rest of the morning.

Mystic Solar Valley considered the hike between various important locations in the outer sect to be a form of minor training for the many disciples, to weed out the lazy and undisciplined among them who were unfit to remain in the sect.

If a disciple could not be bothered to make the journey from their house to the library, sparring grounds or various lecture halls, they were unlikely to progress.

Kade was absentmindedly strolling between the two mountains, lost in thought and admiring the lush emerald fields and ornate buildings that were scattered throughout when he bumped into something and was startled into focus.

“Look what we have here boys, the elusive Kade Trelawney. You just dirtied my robes, why don’t you get on your knees and lick them clean and I might just forgive you,” sneered a chubby youth with buzzed hair and eyes perpetually closed thanks to his nasty grin.

“Forget that Aaron, you wouldn’t want his filthy spit on your robe, let’s just beat some sense into him,” suggested one of Aaron’s cronies.