I stared at the System message, trying to make heads or tails of it. "Cultivate for ten minutes," I read aloud. "Cultivate ... like planting tomatoes?"

That was the only cultivation I knew. My old teachers talked about it all the time, since learning how to regrow plants in a new post-apocalyptic environment – again – was such a big deal. I mean, it took a lot of land to produce enough crops to feed the population. It was an ongoing challenge just to keep monsters from destroying them.

I looked around the black cave and examined the solid rock I sat on. I highly doubted a tomato plant would survive here, no matter how long I tried.

Ding! A new screen popped up. [Cultivation: the act of drawing a compatible essence into the Host's body. Once successful, that essence becomes a part of the Host, and can be used at will.] After that, a lot of information followed, including pictures of a strange seated yoga position I needed to do. It was very specific on the way I needed to bend my fingers and press them together.

I read the information. Then reread it. So ... if I sat exactly like the picture showed, I could absorb a compatible essence from around me.

"A compatible essence," I whispered. That was a no brainer – I was a water mage. And there was a lot of water around me, I thought, glancing at the rippling black liquid. So I could just draw it into my body?

Humming under my breath, I left my chair and warm blanket behind to walk over to the edge of the rock. I sat down and arranged my limbs exactly like the picture showed. Sitting with my legs crossed was fine, but I felt like I was trying to turn my fingers into origami. I was going to have to hold this position for ten minutes? Ugh.

A teal System box popped up, displaying a ten-minute timer, ready to count down.

"Now, I just close my eyes and ... cultivate," I explained to myself. It should be that easy, right? I took a deep breath and forced my eyes closed.

Honestly, I didn't really want to close my eyes. It was already so dark and creepy in this cave, did I really need to add another layer of scary to it? What if a monster comes out of the water? I was right next to the edge. With my eyes closed, I'd never be able to dodge in time.

No, stop, I ordered my overactive imagination. The instructions said that I needed to clear my mind and feel for the compatible essence around me. It was hard to turn off my jittery thoughts. What it left was the slow drip, drip of water falling from the stalactites and the cold stone under my thighs.

Essence. A Hunter's aura was their essence. Not only was I a new Hunter – I mean, I'd only been one for a week – but I'd never had a strong enough aura to maneuver. For the first time, I concentrated on that feeling.

It was like my body suddenly got a little bigger. I could feel the water lapping against the stone ridge. Feel a drop of water splatter on a tiny, forming stalagmite a couple feet away. Feel Levi as he slithered close enough to be inside my awareness, and 'see' his head tilt in interest as he stared at me.

But right now, I needed to search for water's essence. How? I could feel it lap at the rock and drop from the ceiling. It felt so solid. How was I supposed to find something mystical? I sat there, calmly pondering what the System meant. What if I was supposed to 'look' beyond the physical with my aura?

I ignored the physical appearances around me and searched for something deeper. There had to be something more. Slowly, the images around me blurred, leaving only vague shapes and colors. The rock under me was dark, almost black, but I could sense tiny golden sparkles hidden deep inside. Those gold flecks rejected my aura and refused to come close. No surprise there, earth and water were opposites.

The water next to me, although black looking in real life, shimmered a vibrant blue. It was like a giant silk blanket that rippled and flowed until it reached the stone wall a fair distance away. Just looking at the water essence caused a deep sense of longing to swell in me. I felt like an empty well, desperate to be filled.

That longing grew into a force, centered just below my belly button. Just when I thought I was going to explode from it, a shimmering blue miasma slowly rose from the water. The essence rippled and flowed, just like the element it came from. Greedily, I reached with my aura for the miasma. The water essence responded to my call and slowly funneled into a stream that flowed right to me. Instinctively, I directed the flow to the gaping hole I felt in my stomach.

As soon as the shimmering blue light touched me, a cool, soothing sensation spread throughout my body, like vanilla ice cream on a hot day. So calm and mild, with just enough sweetness to appease an ache I didn't know I had. It was a heady, addicting feeling. I just wanted more. I completely lost track of what was going on around me, I simply thirsted for more.

Slowly, the bottom of my empty well filled. It wasn't very much, but it buoyed my body up, as if I was brimming with energy. For the first time, I felt what invincibility could be. If cultivating this little bit of water essence made me feel this powerful, how would it feel if I cultivated a lot? It was an intoxicating understanding.

A ringing alarm sounded in my ear.

I jumped, my concentration shattered in an instant. The shimmering blue essence I hadn’t absorbed yet regretfully slipped from my control and disappeared back into the water. The alarm didn't stop.

With a sigh, I opened my eyes and the alarm immediately shut off. I was in the exact same position as before with my fingers folded uncomfortably. The feeling of absorbing the water essence felt so good, I didn't even notice my fingers aching. Now that I was back from my out-of-body experience, my stiff joints painfully objected. I grimaced, wiggling and flexing my fingers to stretch them out.

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Levi was curled up right in front of me, close enough to touch, but still independent enough to not to. He blinked, as if asking what I was just doing.

Before I could respond, several System screens popped up.

Ding! [Daily Cultivation complete.]

Ding! [Gained Ability: Water Manipulation.]

"What?" I gasped. "Cultivating one time gave me a new ability?" Maybe I should cultivate again and see if I get another ability from it.

As usual, the mind-reading System had an opinion on that. Ding! [Cultivating is helpful to the Host in degrees. If the Host takes in too much essence before the Host's body can contain the power, it will cause irreversible damage. Please follow the directed cultivation guide.]

"Oh," I said slowly. So, drawing too much outside magic was bad if my body wasn't strong enough to handle it. It made sense. If I filled a balloon too much, it popped. Suddenly, the idea of me popping like a balloon came to mind and I cringed. Yeah, no. I didn't want that to happen.

Levi's cool scales slid over my bare thigh, drawing my attention. He slithered across my lap, around to my back, then up to my shoulder. Once there, he leaned forward, until his nose almost touched the System screen.

I watched him move his head, as if he was examining the teal screen. A thought came to me and I couldn't resist asking, "Levi, can you see the words?"

Everyone can see a Guide screen. That was an undeniable fact. Even monsters could see it, and mounts were used to seeing the blue panels appear and disappear. Shiva was no exception. But how deep did this whole familiar thing go? Levi was really interested in the screen. Could Levi see the words on it or was he just impressed with the novelty of a new thing?

Levi glanced at me, silently asking what a word was.

I paused, trying to come up with a way to explain it. "The dark lines." I pointed to a word. "Can you see that?"

He bobbed his head and went back to examining the screen. He slowly leaned forward and flicked his tongue out, and jerked back in surprise when it passed right through.

I, however, was floored. He actually could see the words! We were connected enough that the System associated him as a part of me, and allowed him to view it. I'm sure it had to do with our souls being connected.

"How many more twists and turns would happen today?" I muttered. It just felt like one very long, long day.

Still full of wonder, I opened up my abilities list and read. [Water Manipulation: 10 MP. Move and shape water as desired. Damage made with Water Manipulation is based on the Magic stat.]

"Wow," I whispered. The MP cost didn't surprise me, it wasn't any different to Bubble. But unlike Bubble, where it was always a sphere, Water Manipulation didn't have that restriction.

So, how did I use it? I got the ability after absorbing water essence. So, did it only work with the water I cultivated? Or did it work with all the water around me, like what Levi did when he was fighting the unknown?

Curious, I lifted my hand over the inky black liquid lapping at the rock and cast Water Manipulation. My magic reacted like when I was cultivating. It reached out for the water, commanding it to respond. A ripple appeared in the water, completely different from the normal water movement around it. Then a small stream of water rose up, stretching up like a rope, until it pooled into a ball, floating under my palm. A faint magical blue glow shimmered from inside.

I turned my hand over, examining the water. I closed my fingers, watching as they passed through the cold wet.

Levi climbed down my arm until he rested on my forearm. Curiously, he leaned out and tasted the water then pulled back, as if satisfied. He glanced at me over his shoulder, indicating with his mind that what I just did was the same ability he had.

The water ball accepted the intrusions, but didn't lose its shape. Unlike Bubble, this wasn't a bomb waiting to go off. Given the ability's name, I should be able to make more than a ball. I mean, Levi used this ability to shoot deadly water guns at the unknown. If it was the same, I should be able to make more than a ball.

Dimly, the memory of my Uncle creating a fire arrow popped into my head. He made it seem so easy. Was there a trick? The thought barely crossed my mind when the ball elongated until it was a slender arrow, exactly like the ones in my Items Bag.

"Oh, is that all it takes?" I muttered in surprise.

Levi reached up and snapped his little mouth at the arrow, as if he had a grudge against the weapon. I could tell that he'd had a run in with them before. Then again, he was a priceless dragon, I’m sure quite a few Hunters wanted to hunt him. Well, he was a dragon until I ruined it. Levi snapped at the water arrow with his tiny mouth, but no matter how much liquid he bit from the long shaft, the water simply merged back together. The arrow never responded since I didn't want to hurt him.

"Hey, Levi," I asked, trying to distract him. "Tell me more about this ability. I just have to think of the shape? For how long?"

He looked at me like ugh, but finally left the water arrow alone. Instead, he slid until he draped across my shoulders. Through his grumbling thoughts, I got the impression he said something like, as long as I want.

"So, the length of the spell is until I lose my concentration, or it does it's job," I filled in the gaps to his bare-bones explanation. Was there a range limit?

I stood up and took my bow out of my Items Bag. I couldn't see much right now, so I picked a small stalagmite just visible in the orb torch light. The water arrow followed my will and acted like a normal arrow. I drew the string back and loosed the arrow. The whole process went smooth as silk, as if I was something I'd done all my life. The magic attack sailed straight and true. The water arrow hit the stalagmite with formidable force, knocking the top off the rock mound right off.

Levi flung himself off my shoulder and landed next to the water. Before I could ask him what he was doing, I saw a small bit of glowing water rise out of the river. The water shifted and morphed until it was long and slender. Not quite like an arrow, but maybe that’s what he wanted, since he hated arrows so much. Satisfied, he turned his head and stared at a small stalagmite next to the one I just smashed. Levi's attack shot at it, and the small stalagmite shattered. I couldn't tell which one did more damage, but Levi lifted his nose in the air like he won.

"Cool," I hummed absentmindedly, while comparing the water arrow's damage to what would have happened if I used a normal arrow.

The System popped up. Ding! [Attacks that combine both weapons and magic become magical attacks that increase damage dealt by 20%, at the Host's current level.]

"Cool," I said again, this time meaning it. Uncle was right, I was meant to be a battle mage.

*****