The sounds of overlapping notification chimes jostling for priority in his head, signaled his return to consciousness. He remained still on the mat, expecting to feel some residual pain from the harrowing ordeal of forming his Meridians. Instead he felt … satiated. Ren couldn’t think of a better way to describe the feeling as he lay on the mat, and his pores continued to suction in the last dregs of pure essence from the cultivation room.

Despite the swathes of euphoria coursing through his body, Ren’s mind whirled at the discovery he had made just before passing out.

Brynjar was a god? No, not a god, but an avatar of one. As far as Ren was concerned, that distinction was irrelevant. The power gap between Ren and the man was just too vast. Going over the man’s words from that night, Ren deduced that Brynjar wasn’t just any god, he was the one that had claimed the whole region as his domain.

That would make him an avatar of the Immortal Venerable Kringle!

That was … hmm. That was troublesome. The only saving grace that Ren could see, was that Brynjar – or Kringle – probably assumed he had no memories from the night of the assassin’s attack. Did Algor know that his drinking buddy could erase him from existence with a careless sneeze? Ren doubted it. The old man was too much of a blabber mouth to keep such a secret to himself.

Lying on the prayer mat, Ren considered his options. The best thing to do would be to act like nothing happened. Just go about his activities without giving any indication that he remembered anything. Even though this was a different world, Ren doubted the laws of power were any different here.

The strong ruled, while the weak groveled. From his conversation with Brynjar, he could tell that there was some politicking even among the Immortals and until Ren could battle amongst such entities, he had no intentions of being dragged into their drama. He needed to get stronger as quickly as possible, and then ditch the whole region to avoid getting caught up in the schemes of higher powers.

Decision made, he checked his internal clock, surprised to discover that he had been asleep for 58 hours. He stretched, smiling to himself as he felt the unfamiliar strength packed within his muscles just waiting to be utilized. Feeling much better about the whole situation, Ren pulled up his system notifications in his HUD and promptly had the smile wiped off his face.

<

Foreign energy detected in host’s system 6%: Running auto-purge routine

Auto-Purge Routine: Complete.

…

Error

…

Foreign energy detected in host’s system 99%: Requesting auxiliary nanites to cut off infected areas

Request Denied! Host will not survive 99% destruction

Foreign energy detected in host’s system 100%: FATAL

…

Host is stabilizing.

…

Foreign energy flowing through ethereal channels and infiltrating host: No damage found

>

Time Left till Meltdown = 4 days >

‘What?! Four days left?’ Ren frowned, his mind whirling as he quickly sifted through his logs.

This had to be a mistake. Prior to forming his Meridian network, he had 22 days left – almost a month – to find a permanent fix to his nuclear problem. In moments he determined that he had only been asleep for just over two days. How had he lost the additional sixteen days?

Reading further, Ren realized how close he had come to permanently dying. During the Meridian forming process, numerous hairline fractures had formed across the nuclear chamber within his physical core. The chamber was steadily losing its ability to contain the radiation spilling out of it. Within the chamber itself, the Nuclear plant was somehow still mysteriously working. Missing portions of the plant that had melted into nuclear waste, were adding to the concentration of radiation leaking out of the chamber.

Ren sighed in frustration. He was now a cultivator but that had done nothing to alleviate his issue with his failing nuclear plant. At least he had successfully formed his first iteration of Meridians. He had created it in a modular design, so that as he increased in cultivation, he would be able to add more complex pieces as needed.

Pulling his gaze from his physical core, Ren started tracing the closest meridians when he stopped in his tracks. His drifting sight snapped back towards his physical core, and he … felt the presence of another organ overlaying the same position. Despite this, he could not see anything but the physical core.

The feeling was strange. It was similar to that uncomfortable feeling of having the name of an object at the tip of your tongue, but never quite being able to remember it fully.

Or trying to grab a fish by hand from a seemingly clear body of water. You knew it was there, but when you reached for it you’d discover nothing but water as the fish’s position was distorted by the play of light on the water itself.

Ren snorted to himself, ‘What am I, some human?’

With a herculean effort, he concentrated on piercing through the veil hiding the object from his senses. Refusing to take no for an answer, he continued his stubborn push, and within moments, he felt his senses expand as the ethereal organ was laid bare to him. It was a Cultivator’s Core!

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The ethereal Core was spherical and was divided into nine chambers out of which, only the first was filled about a quarter with Essence. Ren was ecstatic! When he had embarked on creating his Meridians, he hadn’t thought he would be getting an accompanying Cultivator’s Core. Normal human cultivators in the Kingdom of Vulcan were usually born with Meridians of varying quality, as well as a Cultivator’s Core. Only the select few that were capable of cultivating were able to activate the Core after channeling essence into the organ for the first time.

But Ren had no such Meridians. He had refused to let that stop him on his Cultivation journey and as such had come up with the plan to create his own meridians connected to the physical core that housed his important bits. Ren’s perception hovered around the Cultivator’s Core, completely fascinated by its structure. He released his lock on the ethereal organ, momentarily losing his ability to scan it. Then he tried focusing and this time, accessing the Core came easier.

After confirming that the essence in the Cultivator’s Core was free of the radiative particles that infused the Essence in his physical core. Since his meridians led to the same position where both his cores overlapped, Ren was easily able to pull Essence from either of the cores. His eyes widened in realization that this would give him a decisive advantage in battle. Where others would be able to pull a set amount of Essence, Ren would be able to pull Essence from two sources – one with radiated properties from his physical core, and pure essence from his Cultivators core.

Shifting his gaze to his meridians, Ren noted that they seemed to be handling his radiated essence well enough. There was a very slight discomfort, but Ren was easily able to ignore it. He watched as the radiated essence flowed through his meridians towards his appendages, slowly enhancing his engineered bones, muscles, organs and skin. A throaty chuckle escaped his lips.

‘Ahh, now that’s more like it! Oooh I’ve never looked forward to the next fucking century of my life more than right now!’

It was just a shame that he only had four more days to live, before it was all over.

Although it had been a long shot, Ren had hoped that by draining the excess radiation from his core to form his Meridians, he would be able to ease the pressure and mitigate the risk of an imminent nuclear meltdown. Alas, it was not fated to be so. It seemed like he was between a rock and a hard place – if Brynjar didn’t kill him for knowing his secrets, his nuclear reaction might just get the job done first.

Smiling wryly, Ren finished his stretches and stepped onto the marbled floor of the cultivation room. He was in a race against time, and Ren was determined to make the best of it. If pressure makes diamonds, Ren was eager to be remade in the churning crucible he found himself in. Besides, he was having the time of his life!

Holding his hands before him, Ren tightened his palms into a fist, his head tilted as he tried to determine how much stronger he had become. His synthetic muscles and bones groaned with the pressure of his tightened fist, so Ren eased up on the pressure. It felt powerful, the force he could exert somehow stronger with his essence infused body. A small smile tugged at his lips but Ren was not ready to celebrate yet. He had more tests to conduct to get the new benchmark of his strength.

Crouching forward into a boxer’s stance, he sent a series of explosive jabs, marveling at the force he created with his normal punches. If he had to guess, he would say his power output had almost doubled from getting his body saturated with essence. Channeling pure Essence from his Cultivators Core, Ren’s fists tore through the air like bullets. If before he was punching at four times the speed of the best Martial artists on Earth, now his fists would appear as blurs to human mortals.

‘Let’s take it up a notch’ he thought to himself as he increased the tempo of his strikes.

Ren's body moved with precision and grace as he slipped into a dynamic kata, each movement a testament to his increased strength. He moved like the wind as his body surged with power, harnessing the Essence that pulsed through his Meridians. To give some semblance of reality, he overlaid silhouettes of opponents across his vision, viciously attacking them as if they were real.

A series of lightning-fast kicks struck at his simulated opponents, each strike precise and explosive. Like whirling blades, his legs sliced through the air displaying a level of flexibility and speed that surpassed his previous abilities by at least a hundred percent. Maybe more. Thrilling exhilaration coursed through him as he effortlessly executed high kicks aimed at crushing the larynxes and ribcages of his opponents.

Dodging an imagined blow, his follow up roundhouse kick, sent a wave of power slicing through the air, the sheer impact causing a gust of wind to rush past him.

Punches followed in rapid succession, each one faster than the last and sending shockwaves through the space around him. His fists hammered through the air, seeking openings in the guard of his projected enemies. All the while, he marveled at how much more smoothly he moved, compared to before. Even as he shifted his footwork subtly, feigning blows and countering deadly hooks and jabs, his speed never dipped.

At some point, he pulled his sword and incorporated it in the deadly dance. Ren moved his sword through the air simulating quick stabs and swipes. He used the dagger to parry imaginary counterattacks as he steadily increased his speed, searching for his new limit. The room was very quickly filled with the drone of blades cutting through the air at speeds that Ren would have found hard to follow prior to becoming a cultivator.

He felt his swordsmanship gain an additional smoothness that he hadn’t known he lacked before. Basking in the new found fluidity of his body and weapons, Ren enjoyed the feel of slicing through imaginary foes and spilling their lifesblood. A loud snap followed quickly by clattering metal brought him out of his reverie. Laying on the floor broken, was the blade of his shortsword. In his hands, the hilt of the sword remained, ending in the jagged point where the blade had once been attached.

The battered blade which he had coopted from the dead man in the Harosheth forest had finally reached its breaking point and could not withstand the force he had been wielding it with.

'Oh well. Now I won't feel bad about getting another,' Ren mentally shrugged as he seamlessly switched to a fighting style suited for daggers, tossing the broken sword hilt aside. 'That chip on the blade had been getting on my nerves lately!'

Free of the cumbersome weapon, Ren's acrobatic finesse came to the forefront as he executed gravity-defying flips and spins. All the while, his dagger darted in and out at unlikely angles. As he leaped into the air, twisting and contorting his body with astonishing precision, his dagger aimed at striking the opponent in vulnerable blindspots. The enhanced strength in his limbs propelled him higher and farther, as he bounced off the walls and ceiling.

The rhythm of his movements was like a dance, an intricate choreography of deadly intent. He seamlessly transitioned from one technique to another, blending kicks, punches, and acrobatics into a relentless barrage of strikes aimed at crippling his imagined opponent. Each movement flowed effortlessly into the next, as if Ren was an extension of the very energy that coursed through him.

As the dynamic kata reached its climax, Ren's body moved with fluidity and power, seamlessly transitioning between kicks, punches, and acrobatics. Minutes had turned into hours as he exalted in the new capabilities of his body. Over the course of the kata, he had circled the room multiple times, his feet leaving heavy imprints on the floor from the force he was exerting. As he spun away from an imaginary attack, he backflipped towards one of the room's walls. He was preparing to push off the wall's surface when a crazy idea gripped him.

Throughout this exercise, he had been empowering his body with the pure essence from his Cultivator's core, completely neglecting the smaller amount of radiated essence trapped within his physical core.

'I wonder what would happen if I —'

With a savage grin, Ren switched cores, pulling the Radiated Essence through his Meridians and focussing it on his fist.

WHAM!!!

The whole room shook, the lights flickered and the warding scripts glitched in and out of existence as his fist covered in the misty-green of the radiated essence struck the wall. The pain radiating through his arm was a distant concern as he stared with widened eyes at the result of his attack.

His punch had pierced into the reinforced walls of the cultivation room!