"Hey! What's going on in there?" came a muffled voice from the other side of the room's door, breaking the silence that enveloped the space.

Ren paused, his body still tingling with the residual energy from his dynamic kata and his arm stuck, elbow deep into the wall. He turned his attention towards the door, momentarily startled by the unexpected interruption. Sweat glistened on his brow as he caught his breath, his heightened senses matching the voice to that of the receptionist that had checked him in.

"You alive in there?" the lady yelled while pounding hard on the door. "Aster's Mercy! Why did I have to be on duty when the dying man shows up?" Ren’s heightened senses picked up the barely audible grumblings of the woman, followed by shuffling sounds, like robes being disturbed in the search of a key.

Shit. Ren could not let her see the room like this! The penny-pincher in him could not fathom having to pay for the damages to the room. Besides, with his meager earnings so far, there was no way he could afford the cost anyhow. Most likely he would be volunteered into some insidious contract binding him to Diviner Estrid for an extended period of time. No thank you.

He felt, rather than heard it when the Master Token unlocked the room's latch. Quick as a flash, he jumped onto the wall, placing his feet on either side of his trapped hand. Making sure to switch to pure essence, he pushed off the wall, freeing his hand in the process and twisting through the air, on his way to the opening door.

He arrived just in time to slam into the door, preventing the startled woman from coming in.

"Ahhhh," she yelped, as his sweaty body obstructed her view through the small crack she had managed to open. "W-What is your problem? Didn't you hear my call earlier?"

Ren bowed as much as he could without letting the door open any further. "Apologies, gorgeous," he smiled bashfully, trying to distract her. "I was practicing a new Cycling technique and lost track of time.”

"Hmph," she grumbled, frowning as she tried to peer around the chiseled physique blocking her view of the room. “You’ve been in here for quite a while for a Zero. And last time I saw you, you looked half-dead…” her eyes suddenly widened. “Wait, you advanced?!”

She glared at him, her brows furrowed as if waiting for some explanation. Ren just shrugged, keeping a sheepish smile on his face. There really wasn’t much to say. Plus he didn’t want to engage in a long conversation. The faster she left, the better.

“Fine! Suit yourself,” she snapped, annoyed by his silent smile. “That’s not why I am here, anyway. I heard a loud crash coming from this room. What in Aster’s name was that?”

“Eh? About that …,” Ren chuckled sheepishly, his hands ruffling through his hair in feigned embarrassment. “I was so excited after advancing, that I jumped right into refining my first Essence Tier. I didn't realize how hungry I was until my body collapsed in protest.”

The woman's expression softened at his explanation, her curiosity giving way to understanding.

“Oh yes, the first one is always taxing on the body,” She nodded in sympathy, her eyes reflexively roaming over his body. "Although, you don't look like you have missed any protein."

She laughed at that, filling the air with a delightful sound as Ren joined in. Their eyes met, as they chuckled together, the final dregs of apprehension leaving her body. Ren’s sharp eyes caught the slight change in her posture as she relaxed, and he let out a mental sigh of relief. He had her exactly where he wanted her. Time to shift the conversation away from the room entirely.

“Well, my stomach definitely disagrees." Come to think of it, Ren decided he wouldn't say no to some food right about now. "Say, gorgeous, Is there somewhere nearby to grab a quick bite?”

A mischievous smile danced on her lips as she met his gaze, her eyes sparkling with amusement. She tilted her head slightly, a touch of sass evident in her demeanor. "As a matter of fact, yes. We have a communal cafeteria in the building. Although..." She paused, her beautiful brow arched teasingly, and her hands confidently rested on her hips. "If that is your attempt at asking me on a date, I'm sorry to disappoint you. You're not my type."

"Oh, really? And what exactly is your type, then?" he asked playfully.

She rolled her eyes at the question. "Unless that is one thick sock you have rolled up in your pants for some reason, I don't think you have the parts I'm looking for."

“Fair enough.” Ren chuckled, a good-natured grin spreading across his face. He appreciated her wit and directness. For a human, she wasn’t so bad. That was high praise coming from him.

She smiled, shrugging her shoulders as he laughed. “Well, I’ll leave you to it,” she raised her hands and pointed. “The cafeteria is just down this hallway. You can't miss it. Just follow the scent of food.”

“Thank you Acolyte …” Ren trailed off, realizing he hadn’t gotten her name.

“Mya.” She folded her hands and bowed slightly. “Tier 6 Acolyte Mya.”

“Nice to meet you Mya, my name is Ren Turing.”

Mya shook her head in disapproval. “Nice to meet you too, Tier 1 Acolyte Ren. You should get used to introducing yourself in Temple terms, with your new advancement. Especially when talking with other Temple members.”

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“I am not actually an official member of the Temple.”

“That’s not possible,” Mya frowned, squinting at him. “Only Temple members are allowed to use this facility. And I confirmed your Token was given to you by Diviner Estrid — a Temple Diviner”

Oops. Ren hadn’t really thought about it that much. He originally wasn’t interested in getting bogged down with any one group. Especially a mostly pacifist group like the Temple members. However, now that he was a Cultivator, he would need supplies and Cultivation Techniques weren’t cheap. Joining the Temple might be the fastest way to get his hands on some basic necessities. Once he had gotten all that they could give him, then he could always walk away.

“Well, I was brought in on Kringle’s Mercy–” he saw the look of surprise and understanding cross Mya’s face “ – so, I guess I am a potential Acolyte.”

“Hmm, that makes sense, I guess. Who brought you in, the Diviner?” she asked, her voice pitching up in reverence at the end.

“Gods no,” Ren chuckled. “Nothing so major. A fellow Acolyte found me in Harosheth Forest. Lost, disoriented and without any memories, he saved me and brought me back.” He embellished a little. Algor had just been a convenient means to an end but there was no reason to boggle Mya with such minor details.

“Amitabha,” she let out a sigh of pity and made a quick mudra with her hands. “The honorable Immortals have use for you yet.”

Nodding, Ren copied the hand sign she had just made, moving his wrists in a circle and ending with his palm held perpendicular across his chest. Surprisingly, that brought a snort of amusement out of Mya.

“What was that?”

“Eh? I copied the mudra you performed. It felt like the right thing to do,” he replied to a clearly amused Mya.

“Well it wasn’t,” she shook her head. “Clearly you need more lessons on proper Temple etiquette. Unfortunately, I have already spent too much time away from my desk, so I can’t linger any longer.” She said as she walked backwards, towards the passage leading to her station.

“You are one weird man, Ren,” she winked, turning around and walking away. “Lucky for you, I am considered weird myself. Feel free to drop by anytime and I can help you learn the Temple Basics.”

—

As Ren watched Mya walk away, his smile slowly faded, and a hint of worry creased his brow. Chatting with her had been surprisingly fun but he was happy to drop the smile. While he had succeeded in his primary objective of turning her away from inspecting the room, he couldn't shake the nagging concern that he had made too strong of an impression on the woman. He just hoped she wouldn’t remember him as the last person to use the room, once the damage was discovered.

With a sigh, he stepped back into the room, letting the heavy door slam shut behind him. His gaze scanned the Cultivation room, trying to find something he could use to conceal the hole in the wall. Alas, the room remained as barren as when he first arrived days ago. Save for the prayer mat at its center, and the broken sword lying in pieces, the room was completely empty.

'Never a convenient boudoir when you need one,' he grumbled to himself as he plopped down onto the mat, folding his legs beneath him.

Realizing the futility in disguising the damaged wall, he switched gears and instead focused on quantifying his gains. He had been artificially dampening his senses ever since he awoke from his Meridian and Core formation session. His hearing was sharper. The world was a maelstrom of colors and shades, more vivid than he had ever experienced before. Even his strength and flexibility had all undergone a significant boost.

Ren was well aware that his body had been engineered to possess superhuman reflexes even before his arrival in this unfamiliar world. The tests conducted by Blackstone Inc. had revealed that he was at least four times stronger than the top human Olympians they had managed to recruit. The methods used to convince those haughty athletes to undergo the extensive testing remained a mystery to him, but he suspected coercion and bribery played a significant role.

Reflecting on his earlier performance of the martial kata, Ren knew firsthand how much he had improved. The gaping hole in the wall served as a visual reminder of his newfound strength. With a mental nudge, he decided to quantify his strength in numbers.

Recalling the Olympic athletes provided by Blackstone Inc. Ren decided to use their metrics as a reference point. If the average strength of an Olympian athlete were to be assigned as a 1, Ren had originally been a 4 while on Earth. Now that he was officially a Cultivator, he estimated his new strength had grown to a 13 when channeling pure Essence. That number shot up to 16 when he channeled his Radiated Essence through his body.

Extrapolating upon this newfound knowledge, Ren swiftly constructed a small window to document his current state. This self-imposed tracking system would allow him to monitor his progress and prevent complacency from hindering his continual growth. He might not be much at the moment, but he was a better version of himself than he was a few days ago.

Name: AI Model PD-840, codename Ren

Str: 13 (16)

Dex: 17 (20)

Vitality: 75

Cultivators Core: Essence (1/9)

Physical Core: Damaged - 4 days till Nuclear Meltdown

A sense of accomplishment washed through Ren as he stared at his status screen. To see the quantifiable jump in his ability was extremely gratifying to him, especially because he was eager to compare himself against other cultivators.

When he had only been a mortal —Ren snickered to himself— he had been able to fight against lower Essence Cultivators. From Essence Tier 1 to Tier 6 he had tested his superhuman body against their blades and he had held his own quite admirably. Though they had been physically stronger with Essence running through their veins, he had managed to kill a few by applying stealth attacks and using his speed to conceal his attack vectors.

The only thing Ren knew from experience back then was that he was no match for Cultivators at Tier 7 Essence or higher. He idly rubbed the back of his head remembering how easily Dross had laid him out, once he stopped playing around and channeled essence through his body. The Acolyte might have actually killed him in his angered state if not for the timely intervention from his friend, Raymond.

Licking his lips, Ren smiled deviantly. Now that he was a Cultivator himself, he couldn’t wait to test out his mettle against higher Tier Essence Cultivators now. Especially Dross. Although he knew that the power gap between the Tiers grew wider, the higher one climbed, Ren was curious to see how easily he would fare against the gruff man if they had a rematch once again. Before then though, he needed to find volunteers to work out his limits in an actual battle of blood and steel.

“Looks like I am going human-hunting!” he cackled loudly into the quiet room. “But first, food!”