The library's ancient doors shut with a soft whisper behind me, leaving only moonlight to spill across the silent hallway. My mind buzzed with maps, ancient borders, complicated thesis and theories and the mysterious existence of the Oblivark.
I padded quietly back to my room, the cold floors beneath my feet grounding me. It was late. The stars shimmered faintly beyond the enchanted skylight above my bed, glimmering like they too were watching.
I climbed onto the mattress, crossed my legs, and took a deep breath.
It was time.
Alex retrieved the cultivation manual Avalon had handed him earlier that day from his spatial ring, a gift he got from his mother after his awakening, its cover shimmering with silver and deep azure threads. A quiet weight rested in my palms, like holding a legacy.
The cultivation manual of House Walker was bound in shimmering silver and deep azure threads, runes etched along its spine like flowing constellations. It rested in my hands with quiet weight, the cover glowing faintly under my touch as if recognizing its rightful heir.
He sat cross-legged in the room prepared for his first time actually cultivating —walls of blackstone and silent mana-crystals embedded in the corners, dimly illuminating the room. Avalon's parting words echoed in his mind:
"From now on, you may begin cultivating. This technique has shaped generations of Walkers. Make it yours."
I exhaled slowly and opened the first page.
"The Void Drift Sutra: The Walker Path to Eclipsing Horizon."
A soft hum danced in the air as i continued reading. The first phase was deceptively simple: sense the mana around you, draw it into your body with controlled breathing, then guide it through the established mana veins paths—refining, harmonizing, then storing it into the core.
N/T: Mana veins are the semi-invisible channels in the body that allow the flow and control of mana. And Cultivation techniques are graded by their quality and power: Common, Advanced, Elite, Master, Legendary, and Mythic. The great families and pillars all own mystic quality techniques.
I had read dozens of cultivation novels in my past life. This wasn't just elegant,it was perfect. It wasn't mechanical. It was like the manual was speaking to me personally, in the quiet space between my thoughts. He guessed this must be a mystic grade technique.
Not minding much of it,alex closed his eyes and followed the steps.
At first, nothing happened.
Then everything did.
The surrounding spatial mana—silvery-blue in hue—shimmered faintly in my perception. But instead of resisting or requiring effort to draw in, it flowed to him, like an ocean tide recognizing its moon. No struggle. No friction.
A faint breeze stirred his hair.
He pulled the mana in.
It melted into him, weaving through his meridians like warm liquid silk. Every breath drew more, and my body never strained. On the contrary, it felt like the mana was returning to where it belonged.
He directed it toward my Core.
As the energy entered, it swirled along the silver-blue runes with the purple red runes etched inside the core like circuits. A slow rotation began—calm, deliberate. Stable.
As the mana seeped in, it spiraled through the silver-blue runes, absorbed into the gaseous haze of the core. Only a trickle at first. Then a stream.
He focused on the filling process. He could see it.
A faint gauge marked the level of accumulation—just barely above the base. Not even close to halfway.
One-tenth filled.
He understood instinctively. This was the Core Genesis Realm, the second realm of cultivation. And the filling of the core was what determined one's sub-stage.
One-tenth full—first stage.
Full—ninth stage.
And this... this was just the beginning.
His core was in its gaseous phase, as expected. Later stages would condense it, refine it,but for now, this hazy form was the norm.
Yet i could feel the difference.
"My core having being expanded by the primordial energy, so I will need more times the effort and time than others"
I blinked my eyes open slowly, dazed.
He had only spent thirty minutes, but had already circulated mana throughout his system with the ease of someone who had been practicing for years.
He flexed his fingers, a pulse of space rippling subtly around my palm.
But what shook me wasn't the speed—it was the sensation. I hadn't pushed. I hadn't fought. It had flowed into me naturally, like water slipping into a familiar vessel.
"…This isn't normal," i muttered under my breath.
"Having a heaven defying talent really is convenient, not to forget the boost the primordial energy provided"
He looked down at his hands, veins softly glowing beneath the skin. The manual described difficulty, friction, even resistance during the first absorption. And yet here he was, not even sweating.
"…I really am a monster," I whispered dryly.
A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
I closed the manual carefully and leaned back onto his bed, arms behind my head, eyes staring up at the stars above.
Tomorrow, I would go again
And the day after that.
And one day... the heavens would feel it.
---
Only a week had passed since i first began cultivating.
Each night, i would sit cross-legged on my bed, steady and still, drawing in the world's ambient mana into my body. The silver-blue energy flowed in quiet spirals, pulled through my skin, channeled with deliberate control into the depths of my core. There, it met the nearly empty expanse of my Core—a translucent sphere marked with brilliant, purple-red runes from the Primordial mutation.
The mana remained in a gaseous state, swirling gently like morning mist. Just a tenth of the core had been filled—barely the first stage of the Core Genesis Realm—but this first was someone's fifth.
And he was patient.
He didn't rush. He couldn't. His father had been explicit:
"You'll cultivate at your pace, Lex. But the body must be battle-tested before the core can truly be utilize, having a solid foundation is what truly matters."
And so, as the moon marked the turning of another cycle, a sound echoed on the vast chamber door once more.
BANG!
The door slammed open.
Before he could even blink, Elder Vonn's large hand reached out, grabbed me by the arm like a sack of potatoes, and dragged him out of his room.
"break is over," the old warrior grunted. "If you can cultivate, you can fight."
"Wait—hold on, I just got started!!"
"No."
They stormed through the hallways. I tried to match the elder's brisk pace, grumbling as they passed confused staff and a startled maid. My hair was still slightly messy from meditation.
When they arrived at the training hall, Vonn shoved the doors open with a gust of wind. Inside, the space was already alive—lit with glowing runes, target dummies, and moving constructs.
"This is the real beginning," Vonn said, turning to face him with the same grim expression. "You've had a year of basic physical training. Now, you'll learn what it means to fight… as a Walker."
Alex rubbed the back of his hand were he had griped, still half-dazed. "A little warning next time would be great."
Vonn tossed him a practice sword.
"First lesson with mana. Defend yourself."
"Wait how..."
Boom!!
And just like that—
It began.
Half a brutal hour later
Alex lay sprawled on the cold stone floor, bruised and battered, every breath a struggle as his chest heaved up and down. Sweat and blood mingled on his skin, and his limbs felt heavy and sore from the relentless training. He barely had the strength to lift his head when Elder Vonn approached, his footsteps silent but purposeful.
Without a word, Vonn knelt beside me and grabbed my right hand. The sudden contact made me flinch, but before i could pull away, the elder pressed a small, crystal-clear stone against the center of my palm. The cold surface was smooth for a moment, then with a forceful push, the stone pierced through the skin and embedded itself deep within the flesh.
A sharp, searing pain exploded through my hand, as I cried out, a mixture of shock and agony escaping my lips. Blood quickly pooled around the wound, dripping down my wrist. My breath hitched, eyes wide as i stared at the embedded stone, unsure whether to be terrified or amazed.
"What… what is this?" Alex gasped, his voice raw with pain and disbelief.
Vonn's gaze softened, a hint of pride breaking through his usual stoic demeanor. "This is a special rare stone only accessible by the great families and pillars that will absorb a little bit of your mana over time. When it's full, it will emerge as a weapon most suited for you."
Raising his hand, Vonn summoned his weapon as two massive, imposing gauntlet that shimmered with a cosmic glow and intricate silver-blue runes swirling across its surface appeared on his hands equipped.
"This is cosmic Crusher, my weapon," Vonn said, voice low and steady. "One day, your stone will give birth to your own weapon.
I stared at the embedded stone my hand, the weight of its promise settling deep within me. The pain was still there, but the prospect of finally having a weapon suited for me brought him excitement.
As the gauntlet dissolved into motes of light and returned to Vonn's hand, i sat upright, wincing as i clutched the now-embedded crystal. The pain had dulled to a throb, but the stone still pulsed faintly—like a second heartbeat inside my palm.
Vonn folded his arms. "That's called a Weapon Core. Don't let its size fool you. It's not a toy or some enchanted trinket. It's your future companion in battle—and it'll grow with you."
I narrowed my eyes. "Grow?"
"It absorbs mana from you, slowly. Bit by bit. Not enough to hinder your cultivation, but just enough to feed itself. Once full, it will manifest into the weapon most suited to you—your instincts, your subconscious desires, your strengths."
He lifted his hand again, summoning Space Crusher with a hum. The gauntlet gleamed under the soft training room lights, faint silver veins pulsating along its surface. "This came from my own Weapon Core. Took four years to fully awaken. Named it Space Crusher because, well… you'll see."
My gaze drifted to the stone in my palm. The pain had settled, replaced by a strange warmth. But what truly caught my attention were the faint traces of violet and blood-red lines—delicate, serpentine runes that shimmered just beneath the surface of the crystal running along the sliver blue mana. They shimmered faintly—violet, blood-red, pulsing like living threads.
I froze. It was unmistakable. Primordial Energy."
It hadn't been drawn out on purpose. It was as if the Weapon Core, in its infancy, had instinctively absorbed some of that ancient, unknown force from within him.
I blinked, startled, and closed my hand slowly.
Vonn noticed the change in my expression but said nothing. Instead, he spoke with a quiet finality. "You and it will become one. It'll protect you, evolve with you… maybe even define you."
I nodded slowly, thoughts swirling like whirlpools.
Something told him his weapon wouldn't be ordinary. Not with Primordial Energy seeping into its core.
And whatever it became… it would be his alone.