Walking back to the three rooms that he saw earlier Faron saw there was an older lady there that seemed to be the head instructor. Her appearance looked like what Marzan had told him. She was tall, had Short red hair, and wore a basic tank top with a tattoo of a puff of smoke on her shoulder. her eyes were fierce as she was instructing the other people in the room. A younger girl next to her who looked about 18 years old looked very similar to her, Although her hair was draped over her shoulders. Faron noticed they seemed related and that was probably Marzan's granddaughter. Faron waited at the door not wanting to disturb the class that was currently practicing strikes and watched. When Jessie saw the frail boy with long white hair that her father had recommended staring in the doorway she stopped the class, Faron could not hear them. Suddenly the class of over 30 people all turned to look at Faron. and all beckoned him to come in. Faron was a bit startled by this display as he opened the door. The room was hot and he felt a little lightheaded upon entering though he didn't know why.
"Hey Novice Everyone, My father told me that you would be coming. Not sure why you were standing at the door afraid ill bite?" Jessie sized him up and then pointed at a treadmill on the side.
Unsure of what to do FAron looked at the treadmill and quickly walked over and got on. With everyone watching him he looked at Jessie and nodded his head as a show of respect.
"OK EVERYONE, This is a recruit. Be nice to him, He's a real newbie. Get back to work practicing your striking. I'll go get him set up then we will carry on with the forms" She walked over to Faron and quickly got him out of his shirt. with a few quick measurements of his muscles and his weight, she wrote it all down on a data pad. before setting up the treadmill and pushing the start button.
"Ok, kid. We have to get you into enough physical shape that you won't get winded so easily. Your body is not great at all. Too skinny, wish you were fat so it would be easier for us to burn you down than build you up. I'm going to have my friend work on a diet for you. I will work on a regiment for you. Run until I get back. Don't even think of stopping, or else" Jessie seemed serious with her demand and walked away. everyone else got back to their workout and Faron started running. It wasn't long until he realized that something was wrong. He was feeling light-headed, The tread was changing temperatures fast from extreme cold to extreme heat. His feet felt like they were going to fall off. The treadmill was leaning back for more of an incline so Faron put his hands on the railing when suddenly large spikes drove through his hands. Faron started to panic and yell, but it didn't seem anyone could hear him. Blood was flowing down his arms onto the treads making it slippery. 5 minutes into the run the speed drastically increased from 6mph to 10mph, A Large spike came out and jutted near Faron's chest. It seemed if he slowed down he would be impaled. In his panic Faron started to practice his meditation technique he was sure no one would kill him...at least he hoped so.
At the 15-minute mark, The incline was nearly verticle, Faron was being held in place by his impaled hands and the spike was getting dangerously close to his chest. the Speed had stabilized at 10mph, But Faron was starting to get very tired, He still felt as if his mind was clear, however. But he couldn't hold on any longer. How was he going to make his parents proud, Or help the children? those were his last thoughts when he plunged onto the treadmill. Or thought he did. Faron was lying on the ground, with No wounds on his body, and an older woman standing above him. she looked about 80 with a bald head and wore what appeared to be a monk's attire.
"Wow kid, only 15 minutes while you thought your life was in danger. Gotta say, your physicality is the worst we have ever had. Almost everyone makes it to the 20-minute mark, Even had one freak last three hours." She huffed and helped Faron stand up.
"What happened, Was that all a dream or an illusion?"
The old lady shook her head and explained to him, That she was a B-ranked healer. All of the dangers were illusory in the sense that none of them would cause long-term harm, especially with her around. She reached out and pulled her finger down his arm and a long cut opened up before a green light seeped out of her hand and onto the wound, closing it up immediately.
"For simple wounds like that or the punctures on the hand, it is no big deal. I can even regrow limbs after about 6 months to a year. Less if I still have the limb. I have been hired to protect the three classes during more intense training. I was also called into this room to monitor you specifically." She started poking at spots on Faron's body all over from his head to his toes he had no idea what she was doing. She showed no modesty, touching his butt, feet, back, groin, little brother, chest, stomach, and head.
"I see your problem kid. You see we all have 3 sets of meridians in our bodies. It was believed by the ancient Asian culture long ago and confirmed to be real through the protocol. There are 108 in total. 12 Major - 8 minor- 98 lesser. Most humans have a 30-50% portion of theirs opened when they finish puberty. But you, out of 108 only have 1 Major fully open. right here." She poked near his heart. "You will need to fix this with diet, exercise, and meditation. What was once thought to be a myth turned into a reality. And while you don't need to open them all, Every single person of Ascendent class or higher have all 108 open before they continue on their journey."
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Faron looked confused, skeptical, and a little uncomfortable around this woman. But he was met with a hearty laugh when she noticed this. She reached into her bag and quickly pulled out a long single silver needle before pushing it into Faron's arm. it felt as if it was going to explode, when she moved the needle, he felt as if the arm was much stronger than before.
"I stimulated the meridian in your arm both negatively and positively. You will have to figure out how to open them on your own as everyone's path is different, but I can give you a basic understanding before you head home" Faron spent the next hour with this woman learning about the locations of his meridians and the general starting steps for opening them but he didn't understand completely it was something that he was going to have to figure out later tonight when he wasn't in the middle of a practice. Faron thanks her and asked her name, She told him that he was nice but she didn't give her name out casually due to her beliefs. Faron accepted and gave her a friendly nod.
Finally, Jessie returned to the side area where he was after finishing her class. She had a folder with a stack of papers inside for Faron and went over the ideas inside with him. He had a strict diet that would be prepared for him here at headquarters, Living arrangements could be established here on a workmanship basis. Faron wasn't sure yet if this was what he wanted to do so he declined. He still had 2 weeks to decide where to live after he was no longer legally allowed at the Orphanage. His exercise routine which included lots of running and weight lifting along with his strict diet should help him gain weight. He learned that his BMi placed him severely underweight for his height at 15.2. He was told a healthy person of his height should have it above 18 and some people's cultivations even had them in the high 40s and completely fine. Faron knew he was underweight and didn't know much about the specifics of how it was exactly calculated but he knew that his status of "Severely Underweight" was a problem that he would need to fix even if he wasn't in the protocol.
"Thank you for everything, Mrs. Jessie. I will make sure to follow your suggestions as carefully as I can and work to increase my weight before any health complications arise from it. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to help guide me." Faron bowed his head in respect and got up to leave.
As he approached the door the young girl that he saw earlier approached him.
"Hey, I'm Ash. My Grandfather said that he met with you today and that you were valued as skilled like me. Though I don't see it. But, Gramps told me to help you out if you need it and show you around if you get lost. Here is my number. If you need anything here at the facility let me know. Can you bother Gramps whenever you come?" She handed a slip of paper with her phone number on it to Faron before she gave him a quick goodbye. She was a spitfire. Faron didn't even get a word in before she had an entire conversation and gave him her number. Faron was a bit in a daze before remembering he didn't even have a phone after Jason broke it.
There were still about 6 hours left until the graduation ceremony. Faron didn't want to go back to the Orphanage only to have to take the bus out again. So he decided to enter one of the meditation rooms. It seemed to remember him, as soon as he walked in the smell changed to that of rain in the woods. The sound of the thunder and torrential rain was all-encompassing as he sat in a dimly lit room. The windows occasionally flash. He didn't want to activate his "Dragon Who Crawled Through the Mud, Soars into the Heavens" While he was being monitored by the facility, just in case. He wasn't sure who had access to the inside rooms. He knew that only Marzan could call up his data, but that didn't mean no one wasn't watching him even if there was tight security. So Faron decided to work on the Meridian exploration technique that the old monk lady had taught him.
Two hours quickly went by as Faron was exploring the inside of his body, it was rough and not the best, but finally, he managed to move his consciousness to the Blue Heart Merdian that was glowing in his mind's eye. Faron felt a strong suckign force as he started to get pulled into his mental place. This wasn't supposed to happen. Faron panicked but before he could even let a noise out, he was gone.
His consciousness floated through a milky white void until it finally arrived at what appeared to be cobbled stone that was home to a Gate more than a couple of a hundred feet tall. The gate had an opaque smoke covering it so Faron couldn't see inside. He pushed on the handle and nothing happened until finally, he yelled out.
"Hello is anyone there?"
nothing happened.
"WHO DARES TO DISTURB THIS SOVEREIGN WHILE HE IS RECOVERING" A grave voice sounded out, each word like thunder rolling in the distance.
When Faron was finally able to make out what was inside, He saw Thousands of Golden lotus flowers floating all around a cacoon of silver chains. They were holding down a Dark Blue fire that seemed to be formless but still sentient. strange symbols floated all around it, seemingly preventing anything from moving.
"AH, IT'S YOU. FINALLY, WE MEET. ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF. I AM THE KING OF THE AZURE FLAME."