Finn woke early the next day to see if any new information had been added to the token. Infusing energy into it, he could see that a class schedule had been added.

Classes:

Meditation - 9

Combat Technique - 11

Energy Control - 1

Herbalism - 3

Alchemy - 5

Array Formations - 7

Realistically, one could make it to every class since they were all happening at different times. But Avo knew it was a bad idea to spread your focus like that. He decided his focus should lie within three of the six options - Meditation, Combat Technique, and Energy Control. If not for what he learned in the cultivation text yesterday and his earlier experience meditating, he probably would have skipped over meditation completely but now he knew it would be extremely beneficial to him.

Combat technique was an obvious for anyone aspiring to be a fighter and Energy Control was pretty much standard for any cultivator no matter your path. The rest of the options ultimately wouldn't be a help to him although he could see why the sect would offer those kinds of courses.

He had an hour or so before his first class so he went to get food before checking the campus for any changes. Breakfast today was a bowl of porridge. It wasn't bad, but it was a far cry from the feast he enjoyed last night. Then he made his way to the fields. He wanted to check on the library as well since it was on the way, but it still hadn't opened this early.

Moving through the halls, Finn saw quite a few students bustling about, no doubt anxious about having a good first day. When he finally reached the field, he couldn't help but feel downcast. The energy level was significantly lower than before . Not quite as bad as his hometown, but close. He noticed other students walking around with the same dejected looks on their faces and he felt it was lucky he didn't spend his entire day yesterday in the library even though he had still missed out on actually absorbing any of the energy.

Finn walked over and checked the privacy section of the fields. He could feel an increase in energy as he got closer and noticed there was a new apparatus. It looked like a scanner. Avo held up his token and information was revealed to him. There was a calendar, showing hour long slots for usage of the array. They were all free at the moment so he chose a random slot.

Book Privacy Area on *date* at *time* for 100 points?

"100 hundred points per hour." Finn thought out loud.

It was good to know, although he didn't have a proper scale to tell if that was a lot or not. He moved on to the gravity array. Likewise he was met with a similar prompt when he connected to the apparatus with his token.

Gravity Multiplier Array

Current Strength - 2G

Join for 50 points?

It had a rotating force of 2 times and 3 times gravity, changing force every hour. The cost for joining a 3G session was raised to 75 points. However if it had no users, like now it would simply remain off to conserve energy. Finn kept walking and he noticed an area surrounded by benches. He hadn't noticed this before since there were so many students, but this looked to be the arena.

He had brushed over it yesterday in his rush to get back to the library, but what did an Arena entail? Anyone could use it if it was open so spars perhaps? But there were benches for viewing so maybe a tournament would happen down the line sometime. Would students be expected or made to duel each other? He hoped that it would be for optional events only.

The shop was now active and it was just a vending machine under an awning that was now activated. He took a minute to browse through the wares for anything that might be useful for him in the future. There were less than a dozen options and only a few stood out to him. The minor bag of holding, healing potions and energy stones which were priced at 200, 50, and 75 points respectively. There was no information for each item and it was up to anybody's guess what exactly each one did. In any case, the items were out of his reach for now so he moved on.

The only other place that seemed to be active today was the entrance to the wilds. Through the open gate, he could see a clearing that led into a forest. In the clearing he could spot a few goat like beasts grazing. He tried to step through but was blocked by a barely visible force field covering the gate's entire entrance. An idea struck him and he took out his token again, holding it up in front of him. The force field dispersed in front of the token, making a man shaped opening he could step through.

"What's going on here?" Finn heard a voice ask behind him.

He lowered his token, causing the gap to close and turned to face the group.

It was a group of three, two men and a woman. He had noticed them checking out the fields before.

"I was just checking out the field," Avo started, turning and motioning at the gate. "I noticed this was open so I ran over to see what it was all about."

"Oh it's open?" The man said as he walked closer, attempting to step through but noticing the force field. "How do I get in?"

"Token." Finn responded. Holding up his own. "It'll make a gap once it registers you." The man tried it with his own and smiled when he saw it work.

"Ah, my name's Fred." he said and motioned to his two companions. "This is Alice and this is Montgomery. We just call him Mont though."

The two smiled and said their own greetings as they were introduced.

"Were you about to enter? Maybe we can all check it out together?" Fred asked.

"I'm Finn," Finn responded. It looks like these three had already formed a group to make it through the trials of the academy together. It was definitely an option although things might get more chaotic as time moved on. There would only be one first place after all.

"I did wanted to check it out, but my class is about to start so I can't right now," Finn explained.

"Hmm, " the man said nodding in understanding. "That's meditation right? Any of you taking that one?" he asked his companions but they shook their heads.

"Well," he continued. "We should check it out since we've got the free time. You should hit us up later. We'll tell you if we find out anything interesting."

"Sure thing. I'll be on my way then," Finn said knowing he wouldn't be looking for this group again.

It just wasn't his thing, looking for friends. He already had Avo and that should be enough for the moment. Furthermore, he got a bad feeling from Fred although he didn't know why exactly that was. Regardless, he'd be trusting his instincts.

On the way to his class, he checked on library once more. It still had yet to open and Finn was starting to get a bad feeling. He arrived at his classroom with a few minutes to spare and took a look around. It was a wide open room with windows on each wall, except the one from which he entered, that was connected to the rest of the school building which quite literally meant it was sticking out of the main building.

Instead of desks and chairs, there were dozens of mats laid out before a single raised mat where a woman sat legs crossed and eyes closed. There were about 20 students sitting on one of the mats laid out in front of her although there were a lot more open spots. There was some chatter going on but it was mostly quiet. Finn sat in an open spot in the front row and waited for her to begin.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Welcome students. I am Ms. Eliah and I will be the instructor of the meditation classes at this academy. I can tell each of you has what it takes to rise to the top, evidence being that you all chose to attend class on, arguably, the most important factor to any cultivator."

She looked over the attendees with a serious look as she continued.

"Many young cultivators overlook the importance of having a strong foundation in meditation. But you shall see how important it is as time goes on," she finished and Finn felt like she was staring right through him as her piercing gaze landed on him.

"I can see some of you already have a little experience in this," she said, then she looked over the class.

"Life is truly a grand undertaking." she continued. "With so many factors that are out of our control and the few that are, it is easy to get lost. Meditation allows us to regain some of that focus and truly take control of our destinies. No matter what you do, fighters, alchemists, even mortal peasants have much to gain by taking time out to go over their experiences."

Finn felt that the woman was spot on going by what he felt in his meditation session the day before. Yesterday was the first time he had really meditated and he felt he had figured out some truths about himself that he had not ever really taken time to consider before. It was a scary thought. He knew who he was, but at the same time there was so much he didn't know at all.

Instructor Eliah then went on to show the class a breathing technique. It was nothing special. Just taking slow long breaths and letting them out just as slowly. Then she continued with the first class exercise.

"Now students, clear your hearts and minds," she began. "For our first class. I want you all to think about yourselves. Up until now, what have you been doing. What are your plans. Who are you really?"

Finn was surprised to hear her words, since it sounded so similar to what he had read the day before. Still it filled him with confidence that he was on the right track having heard the same thing in two different places.

He tried to continue where he left off yesterday, re-evaluating himself. "What is my goal?" he asked himself inwardly. "To reach the peak." he answered. But again he was forced to stop himself. That wasn't really true. He didn't really have a scale for what "the peak" was, it was just something people said. He already realized that he wasn't truly looking for greatness but it took some time for him to come to terms with the facts. He just wanted to be comfortable. That was it. It wasn't some grand goal and some might even scoff at the idea but it was the truth. He just wanted to live an enjoyable life.

Once more he was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of a bell. But it was unlike the harsh sound from yesterday. It was soothing, and his thoughts didn't dissapate like they had the day before when he was stopped by the curfew bell. He consolidated his musings, creating a block of a concrete idea and placing it on a shelf in his mind. He slowly opened his eyes and took stock of his surroundings.

The session today had been so different from yesterday that it was almost uncanny. He wasn't covered in sweat nor had his thoughts been terrifying. On the contrary he felt he had gained something invaluable, like he had finally put some pieces together. He looked around at the other students and saw a few who were waking up from their thoughts. Others looked like they had been daydreaming and a others still seemed to have fallen asleep entirely.

"That's all the time we have today. For those of you who managed to make it to the end, I implore you to remember the feeling you had today and try to replicate it in your own free time. That is all."

Finn got to his feet but he noticed the instructor looking at him.

"Young man, stay behind for a few minutes." she said.

The other students didn't seem to notice her request but Avo felt that nothing was wrong so he waited for the students to clear out.

"Have you been instructed in meditation before?" she asked, when the last of the sleeping students had been woken and left the room.

"No" Finn responded simply. The woman's gaze lay squarely on him and Finn felt she was suspicious about his answer. He felt discomfort under her gaze but it was the truth.

"Have you been cultivating before you entered the academy?" she asked after a few silent moments.

"Not until yesterday. Soul forging was what I did in particular, but never anything before that," Finn answered. He hoped giving a descriptive answer would appease her. He didn't want an instructor to think he was a liar on the first day.

"You know of soul forging? Who taught you?" the tone she took on startled Finn and he started to feel a bit of dread. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so descriptive. Still, all he could do now was try to clear things up.

"I read about it in a book I found in the library yesterday. I only know of the first step so that's what I practiced," Finn explained.

"I see," the woman said, clearly more calm than before. "Still, there's something that isn't being said here.

She stared at Finn, obviously expecting more explanation but Finn truly didn't know what else to say. He had told her everything he had done so far but she was still expecting more. Finn grew more and more uncomfortable under her gaze and he knew he had to say something.

"The thing is," he continued with a pause before he pushed away his hesitations. "I may have a bloodline."

"A meditation bloodline? Hmm, " The instructor said as she folded her arms, not moving her gaze for a moment. "What makes you think that?" she asked.

"Well, " Finn started with a grimace. "I don't know for sure what kind it is. My parents didn't give any details, they just said I might have one related to souls." Finn responded.

Being skilled at meditation and maybe having a bloodline might not be related at all, but Instructor Eliah wasn't going to take nothing for an answer, and this was the best thing he could think of.

"What is your name child?" Instructor Eliah asked, her attitude seeming a slight bit less threatening now.

"Finn. Finn Atelier." Finn responded.

"Mister Atelier." the instructor said letting the words out slowly. "I implore you to tell no one else what you have just told me."

The statement and Instructor Eliah's tone made Finn worry. He hadn't told anyone about his situation so far but that was mainly because he wasn't sure what was what, and nobody had asked. If circumstances had been a little different, maybe he would have already bragged about it to Avo, or mentioned it when he was being interviewed for admission.

Instructor Eliah must have noticed his change in countenance becuase she asked him a question, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Have you already told others?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh no, I just had no idea that it was something I should have kept secret," Finn responded.

Instructor Eliah sighed. "Don't worry about it. You can't be expected to know these things." She looked a little sad when saying the her last words but any sign of it was quickly removed from her face as she moved on.

"I'll be honest Finn. I think you do have a bloodline, and a very powerful one at that," she said.

"How can you be so sure?" Finn asked. He was starting to get excited over his instructors words. This was confirmation that there was something special about him, perhaps something that could even give him the advantage he was looking for.

"Meditating is not easy. I didn't reprimand the day dreaming or sleeping students earlier, and its because they cannot reasonably be expected to meditate for an hour at this stage. Being able to block out the world around you and focus on a simple topic for an extended period of time is not as easy as it sounds." instructor Eliah explained.

This was news to Finn. He felt it had been easy to get into the right frame of mind although he had to admit his mind wandered a lot in his first sitting. Today, he had simplified his focus and he would put money on that simple breathing technique making a hell of a difference. There was also the fact that he seemed to loose track of time but that may be a feature rather than a detriment.

"But you easily entered meditation, and kept focus and made progress in such a short time with no prior teaching. That's some pretty solid evidence that you have something special happening."

Finn was overjoyed hearing his instructors words. But he was brought back to reality by her next words.

"How much do you know about soul forging?" she asked. "It's clear that you're in the beginning stages."

"Not much." Finn answered truthfully.

He reiterated how he had found out yesterday and told her that he was following the first step of finding himself and that it was all he knew so far.

"It's unfortunate that you only took note of the first step." Instructor Eliah said. "but you should keep working on it."

"What do you mean unfortunate?" Finn asked, starting to get a bad feeling.

"You'll see the next time you check the library," she sighed. "I have to take leave now, remember, tell no one of your bloodline." After that she left leaving a dumbfounded Finn a few minutes to consider the conversation before moving on to his next class.