“All right, class, settle down. It’s time for our lesson to begin,” Elder Wong said, trying to get the teens to pay attention.

Kiru, a half-elf who sat at the back of the class, was more interested in not being noticed than in the elder’s lesson. Because of his heritage, it was hard to stay incognito in his village. Bristleton was a small mining village in the eastern outskirts of the Kingdom of Blades, not exactly a major hub of trade and activity. They were practically in the middle of nowhere.

The Kingdom of Blades, a smaller country in Alterra, was renowned for its great warrior cultivators. The country was also unique in that it hosted a wide variety of races, compared to others, and truly served as a beacon for peace on Alterra. That being said, out in Bristleton, there were mostly humans and dwarves. Kiru and his mother were the only ones with elven lineage for miles. That made him stand out in the crowd. It didn’t help that his lineage had wound up giving him hair that was spiky and jet black with bright red tips.

“Now, today we will begin our course in world history. Does anyone know what event incited Alterra’s creation, hmm?” The elder man asked, stroking his long, white beard.

A hand raised.

“Ah, yes, Ms. Albright. Go on,” he said.

The girl cleared her throat before speaking. “The formation of Alterra is due to Ragnarok. The great apocalypse brought an end to many realms, but in doing so, created our newer one,” she recited.

“Correct, but do you know how exactly our realm was formed in the midst of such calamity?”

The girl appeared caught off-guard, and she shook her head sheepishly.

“Anyone else?” He looked around the room for a minute to see if anyone else would venture to answer. Kiru didn’t sink into his seat like most of his classmates, but he avoided eye contact so as to not draw attention. Plus, he was more focused on what he would be doing after this lesson.

“The answer lies in what caused Ragnarok,” Elder Wong answered. “Scientists and Diviners had discovered that the main inciting cause of Ragnarok was the world tree’s collapse. Somehow, it had been damaged, and it collapsed partially under its own massive weight. It stirred the great beasts and brought the destruction of Midgard, or Earth, as it was known.” A number of students laughed at the silly notion of someone naming their realm “Earth.”

The elder chuckled, too, then continued, “Even though Midgard and many other realms ceased to be, it did not bring complete annihilation to many of their inhabitants.” The elder’s face took on an excited look, “Instead, many of the world tree’s realms collapsed on top of each other, fusing many of them into one new, massive world, Like a patchwork quilt. That world is what we live in today– Alterra.”

The eager student raised her hand.

“Yes, Ms. Albright?”

“If Yggdrasil collapsed on itself, how come one of our books said that there are still other realms aside from Alterra?”

“Excellent question! I see someone hasn’t neglected their summer reading!” Elder Wong beamed.

Kiru had to fight an eyeroll.

The elder made a motion to demonstrate. “That is because, while many realms collapsed completely in on each other, not all of the realms did. For example, Nilfheim–realm of ice, snow, and mist still remains a separate realm along the world tree, in addition to multiple others. Though some of the earliest scholars from the Pre-Ragnarok Age spread the doctrine of Nine realms for millenia, Meriadoc's Theorem of the third age--write that down, it will be on the test--proved that there are more, but not how many more. Perhaps one of you lot will make that discovery one day, hmm?"

Most of the students just stared at him blankly.

The elder sighed, then bunched his lips in firm resolve. He raised his head and slammed his staff to the ground, “Let me guess, you lot want to learn about cultivation, hmm?”

At the mention of cultivation, Kiru snapped his head up in excitement. The mostly bored students perked up too, confirming the elder’s suspicion. He slammed his staff angrily on the floor, “Well, then I expect a ten-minute presentation by each of you about a unique realm attached to Yggdrasil and the types of mana associated with it, due at the end of the week.”

A few of the students groaned quietly, but everyone accepted the impromptu assignment. Cultivation was the means to grow, to ascend in any part of life, no matter how large or menial. Farmers cultivated mana to help crops grow, miners cultivated to allow them unnatural strength, and warriors cultivated their mana to make them quicker and more deadly.

“Can you teach us about our cores?” Emma Albright asked, clearly too eager to wait for the elder to even call on her this time.

The elder smiled and shook his head, enjoying the bookworm’s curiosity. “I suppose,” he said. He slammed his staff once more on the ground. “Pay attention, class, this information is vital to your paths of cultivation. Now, cores are spherical organs that retain deposits of mana that bring both energy and life to the body. They are located in our chests by our hearts.” He pointed at his own chest to demonstrate. “Aside from those somehow blessed by the gods, all cultivators possess one core. Everyone is born at Base-rank.

“Base-rank cores are weak and mostly inert. They cannot provide mana to the body. Until they are filled completely, they only take in mana and do not provide us any benefit. Once our cores are completely full, they ascend to Copper-rank. Most call it ‘awakening’ one’s core. After one reaches Copper, they can begin removing impurities built up in their system. So, it is important to cultivate in order to help the cores become full. Everyone’s core also has an affinity to a unique type of mana.”

“How can we find out what type of mana we can use?” A teenage dwarf with an already extremely thick mustache asked.

“Familial relation plays a major factor, young man, but that’s not always the case. Some have such a strong affinity, they know it intuitively, once their cores have awakened. Still, for most people, there are tools and diviners that help determine their mana types,” the Elder answered. “As for when someone ascends to Copper, that varies from person to person. Typically, when one reaches maturity, their cores awaken. Though the rate someone matures is unique to the individual, most commonly, eighteen is the age cultivators discover their mana type.”

“Ha!” A rather rude laugh came from the student behind the dwarf, a laugh that grated Kiru’s nerves. “Yeah, shortstuff, why don’t you grow a few more inches, then maybe you’ll be man enough to be able to use your core like me. Haha!” The mouthy student was Ambrose Constantine, only son and heir to Vincent Constantine, a duke and the local lord, and reportedly distant relatives to King van Blaine. His new brutish lackeys sitting beside him chuckled at his cruel joke.

The dwarf visibly shook in anger.

Kiru had enough. Even if it wasn’t toward him, he couldn’t stand bullies. To the young half-elf, Ambrose Constantine was a textbook definition of one. “Well, I know some people have to rely on pills to awaken their cores, but that’s only for the rich kids who are too weak to do it on their own. Of course, you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Ambrose? I mean, someone like you who awakened their core at fourteen must be some sort of prodigy. There’s no way you could have just cheated to get ahead, right?”

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The noble kid’s face went slack and turned a pale white at Kiru’s words. Everyone knew Ambrose’s father had given him pills. The boy had been drunk one night off of some wine he’d taken from his family’s cellar and all but declared it to the entire village. No one ever dared bring it up, though, since the boy was known for his cruelty, and his father was known for his unapologetic nepotism.

There was a pregnant pause in the room, until one-by-one, the other students began to laugh. First, they chuckled. Then it snowballed into an uproar.

Ambrose’s face turned red. “What are you laughing at? Of course I didn’t do that! And you, mongrel,” he said, glaring directly at Kiru. “How dare you suggest otherwise! My father will hear of this!” He spat, then stormed out of the classroom, his two goons following close behind.

Elder Wong tsked and shook his head. “I’m really worried about that one.muttered before looking back at Kiru. “I sure do hope you know what you're doing, mister Kiru,” he said pointedly at the half-elf.

Kiru winced, suddenly realizing who exactly he’d just provoked. He really needed to get a better grip on his anger. It made him too impulsive. Now, instead of keeping out of the limelight, he’d just made a public scene and insulted the lord’s son, along with losing face!

He averted his eyes, clinching his fist and gritting his teeth in disappointment. “Crap,” he uttered in self recrimination. He had to find a better way to watch what he said. After a few seconds, he realized that everyone was looking at him. “Oh! Sorry, Elder Wong. You’re right. I shall endeavor to be more careful with my words from now on. Thank you for your concern,” Kiru said.

The old man shook his head then readdressed his class. “Well, then, let’s go on to cultivation, shall we?”

Despite the little drama that had just played out, the rest of the students seemed excited at the announcement. For many of them, this was their first guided cultivation session. They all sat in a group on the floor, mirroring the Elder, and closed their eyes. They began to follow his instructions, bringing in the ambient mana present within the environment and filtering it through their pores. It was a method available to any cultivator, no matter what type or rank. Many students shook and struggled as they tried to follow the Elder’s instructions. For those who were able to cultivate successfully, they could only filter small trickles of mana into their cores.

The reason for such a small amount was twofold. First, while this method of cultivation was widely available, it was by far the worst way to draw in mana. This way, the students didn’t try to cultivate a specific type of mana nor direct it through their body in a certain way. Their cores would just lazily purify any mana that just happened to come into contact with them. It was literally the most basic method anyone could learn. The second reason was the students’ lack of understanding and training, as evidenced by their bodies shaking with the effort. While natural ability played a factor, cultivating required practice to improve.

Kiru blocked out the elder’s interaction and started his more enhanced cultivation method. Unlike Ambrose, Kiru had awakened his core without any cheats. His mother, despite many looking down on her for being just a simple tavern cook and barmaid, was a very gifted cultivator. She taught him how to awaken his core via an elven method she knew, bringing him from the Base-rank to Copper much more quickly.

He had a high affinity with his mana type, which led him to intuitively know the type he could cultivate after his awakening. His mother was delighted to see that he was a fire cultivator like she was. He wasn’t about to share it with the class, but she had also informed Kiru that the generic theory that Elder Wong taught was very outdated. It had come from the fact that most cultivators, who were either self-taught or without a path, often just stumbled their way to the second lowest rank if they just used the basic cultivation method.

Unfortunately, those people were often stuck at that rank from then on. Those defects in knowledge even led many commoners to abandon attempting to cultivate altogether. Children would have no one immediate to learn about cultivation from. That led to more gaps in knowledge and resulted in people having to learn basics later in life versus early childhood. The class Kiru was in was a prime example of that.

After his awakening, Kiru’s mom also taught him a better way to cultivate fire mana. The elf informed her son that cultivating beside a source that exuded the mana you were connected to increased the potency and amount of mana absorbed. She had given him an example of an ice mana cultivator being more effective when cultivating at the top of a mountain during winter.

So, while the majority of the class started to sloppily cultivate via the standard method for the first time, Kiru sat right next to one of the open windows and started to draw fire mana. Though the sun’s heat was not a “nearby” source of flame, it was still exuding more concentrated fire mana than anything else Kiru could get at the moment. The young half-elf smiled as he let the sun’s rays wash over him from the window and cycled the fire mana into his core.

After the morning class, Kiru began his walk to the local smithy. The dwarf running the forge there was a huge fan of the boy’s mother’s cooking, and he negotiated with Kiru to learn his craft in exchange for a daily cooked meal from the elf. The gruff smith wasn’t much for conversation, almost completely keeping the topic focused on his craft. Still, he had a respect for the teenager’s skill and wit. Honestly, the old dwarf was the closest thing Kiru would consider a friend, and that wasn’t saying much. Kiru was admittedly a loner, and his “smart mouth” had caused more than a few fights and a not-so-flattering reputation among the other youths.

So, instead of trying to make friends, he focused on self-improvement with cultivating and smithing. While Kiru found the craft of blacksmithing interesting, he wasn’t planning to make a career out of it. He would use the ability to diversify his skillset, and it was synergistic toward his end-goal. Kiru’s dream was to be a soldier, one of the famed royal soldiers of the Kingdom of Blades. He needed to be strong, so he could travel the world and fight injustice.

Nevertheless, his mother insisted on him taking up a non-combat trade, so blacksmithing it was. It let him build muscle and heat resistance, plus, cultivating near the fires was an excellent way to help him advance. The final bonus was that Kiru got to handle weaponry, and he was picking up on the feel of a sword, weight, balance, and counterbalance.

Kiru decided to take the long route through the central market district that day. The kingdom’s Royal Academy recruiters had stopped by their remote village, as they did every year, and Kiru wanted a glimpse at their power and to see if any of the village’s contestants would make it. The academy was Kiru’s best shot at eventually becoming a royal soldier, but they only accepted Gold-rank contenders or higher. On top of that, you had to show what they termed “promise.” Whatever that meant.

Kiru was well on his way to becoming a prime candidate for the academy. If he continued his path, with his mom’s help, he’d be a tier-one Silver-rank in just a few weeks, which would put him that much closer to reaching Gold. To get to Silver, a Copper rank cultivator had to cultivate enough mana to force their core to condense itself.

With the condensing of his core, he would be able to control the flow of mana more easily. Copper had no separate stages within the rank. That wasn’t the case for when one reached Silver. Silver-rank had six tiers, starting at zero and ending at five. Still, for Kiru to be closing in on the second tier of Silver was a feat that was exceedingly rare, especially since he was still supposed to be two years away from awakening his core, compared to most cultivators. So, he was the highest-ranked cultivator of his age in Bristleon. Well…aside from Ambrose.

Kiru scowled as he thought of the noble brat. His palm began to turn red and hot as he unintentionally released some of his stored fire mana through it. The action wasn’t a true spell or technique. It was the most powerful ability Kiru could do for now, though he had never manifested it intentionally, only when he was angry. He shook his hand a few times. At tier-zero Silver, he had no meridians.

Unfortunately for the teen, a well-known side effect for most fire mana cultivators was a short temper. Ever since he’d activated his core, his anger had become much more difficult to keep in check. He scowled to himself, giving his hand another shake. His mother had told him not to channel mana to his hand like that yet. Because he hadn’t yet reached the first tier, it could cause permanent damage, if he wasn’t careful. Feeling the burning sensation, he couldn’t help but agree about the risk. He just needed to keep his head down, work hard, and not cause any trouble.

Kiru found that being alone helped him cool his emotions and to let things go with greater ease. The noise and hustle and bustle with the academy's proctors in town was making that difficult. So, he went off into a dead-end alley for a moment of solitude. He walked about halfway in, stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He forcibly calmed himself, and his clenched fist finally began to cool. He opened his eyes, letting a contented smile cross his face. Before he could turn back to continue his trek to the market district and the smithy, a voice reached his ears that instantly reignited his temper.

“Mongrel!”

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