Cultivation. The art of absorbing energy from the universe, and using it to transform ones body and soul. This had been Will's main goal. The epitome of grinding! Will was overjoyed. He was so happy he almost cried. In front of the possibility to cultivate, everything else lost meaning. Cultivation brings strength! Cultivation extends ones life! Cultivation gives you incredible abilities, and much more.

The information that had entered Will's mind was made up of two things. The basics of cultivation and a cultivation manual.

According to the basics there were three energies a human could use: ki, mana and yuan. Ki was the energy of the body, whilst mana was energy of the spirit. Once someone has achieved a state were they can fuse both energies, then they become a practitioner. Practitioners use yuan energy. Yuan energy differs from person to person.

There are in general two types. They are divided into those that use yuan that is primarily made up of ki with mana making up a small part, or vice versa.

Practitioners have a big advantage over other cultivators, as they have the benefits from both worlds. The closer the ratio of mana to ki is to becoming perfectly even, the higher the quality of yuan one has.

This was some of the information Will had gotten from processing the basics of cultivation. There was much more to cultivation such as meridians, the dantian, spiritual veins etc. Will quickly absorbed the info and had a basic understanding of cultivation.

It was at this point that Will realized something. He had become more intelligent. His brain power had improved significantly. He started delving into his mind and saw that he was remembering things he had previously forgotten. His processing power had also Improved. He could easily perform calculations that he would have needed a calculator, a book and pen to perform in the past, in his mind swiftly.

Will was pleased by this, it seemed that this new body had many more lovely surprises.

After Will looked through the basics he moved on to the cultivation manual he had been given. Cultivators used things called cultivating techniques to tell them how to gather energy and move it around their bodies in a specific order. This mattered greatly, for a better cultivation technique meant a better quality or quantity of energy.

Some techniques had traits regarding different things. For example people who used ice magic cultivated frost mana. This type of mana was very cold and would freeze those not used to it. Those who used fire techniques cultivated flame ki. This type of ki was very hot and would burn the bodies of those not used to that type of ki.

Will was eager to know what kind of cultivation technique he had gotten. After delving into his mind he found out. The manual was called The Solitary Sword Sovereign.

…

Will sat cross legged on his bed with his eyes closed, trying to comprehend the instructions in The Solitary Sword Sovereign. Small beads of sweat were rolling of his forehead. His every breath deep, following a strange particular rhythm. After a few minutes he opened his eyes. A strange light shining in his pupils.

It's very profound. I am only able to comprehend a very small portion at the beginning. Its like decoding a very complex book.

Will sighed in resignation. He was happy to at least finally cultivate. Will had managed to gather some yuan in his dantian. This was the region 2 inches below his navel. It was as if it was part of his body yet in another dimension. It was the area were yuan was gathered and stored. Ki was stored in ones body, mana in ones mind, and Yuan in the dantian. Like the dantian, the other energies were not on the same plane as his normal tissue. The same applied for his meridians and his spiritual veins. They were in his body, but did not interfere with his normal human body parts.

Spiritual veins were veins that transported energy from pores on the skin, to and around the body. Meridians were broad valve like check points that exist in the complex network of spiritual veins. There were thousands of spiritual veins but there were only 20 meridians. Places were spiritual veins intersected were called acupoints. One could freely operate ones acupoints to assist in directing energy, but meridians were different.

There were 2 types of meridians. They were called the 8 Gates and the 12 Doors respectively. How many meridians you have unsealed at birth is a measure of your cultivation talent. Especially your Gates. The more you train, the more Doors you can open. The number of Gates that are unsealed however never changes. You are stuck with that number for life.

At the moment Will had 6 Doors that were unsealed and only 5 Gates were unsealed. Each of the Doors were traitless and were named according to the order in which they are unsealed, from the First Door to the Twelfth. The more Doors are open the better your control of energy.

The Gates however were named according to the attribute which they boosted. The Gates in Will's body that were available were the Water Gate, the Spirit Gate, the Wood Gate, the Space Gate and the Metal Gate. His Fire, Earth and Taiji gates were forever untouchable.

These meant that Will had potential in using abilities involving these particular traits. Due to his limited abilities Will could only access the Water and the Metal Gates at the moment. He was confident He would be able to access the other two Gates in the future.

Will decided to just cultivate according to the instructions he could comprehend at the moment. He absorbed energy from the atmosphere and converted it into yuan, circulating it according to a particular route along his spiritual veins.

Will found the dual mind ability useful here. Half of his mind was circulating yuan and depositing it in his dantian, whilst the other half was trying to comprehend what was left of the SSS manual. As Will did this he felt no sense of time. It was as if he was in a dream, floating in a realm of nothingness.

After a few circulations Will’s yuan started to change. It started to resemble that sharp knife like energy that he had felt before.

No this isn't knife like. This energy… Is more like a sword!

The more Will comprehended the SSS manual the more he understood yuan. What Will was feeling was sword yuan. It was yuan that had properties similar to a sword. Sharp, swift, agile, overbearing and deadly. The more Will got to understand this energy, the more his body started subconsciously spilling out killing intent.

Such was the nature of the sword. It was a tool designed for one purpose; killing.

“Having fun are we~”

After being spooked Will opened his eyes and jumped of his bed. Entering a battle stance as if by reflex.

When he realised who had spooked him, he frowned and calmed down. It was Modus.

Not only was Modus here, but time had stopped once again. Colour no longer existed in the World around them.

“So how does it feel.” Will couldn't see the man's expression under his mask but he would bet all of his money that he was looking smug.

“Good. Very good.” Will didn't like lying so he was honest. Not to mention he knew the man in front of him wasn't one he could mess with.

“Fantastic. You know, you should thank me for stopping time for you.” Will narrowed his eyes after hearing this remark.

“Why should I thank you? What happened?” Modus smiled underneath his mask, his mischievous side was gushing out. Ready to pounce. Modus controlled himself.

Not yet. I need to mess with him some more.

“You have been cultivating for about 2 days or so.” The moment Will heard this he gasped. This was completely outside his expectations. To him It had only felt like a few minutes. In the basics it did mention that time could fly during meditation but he never thought it would be this serious. Unfortunately, It never occurred to the boy that Modus was messing with him.

Whilst Will was deep in thought Modus once again spoke.

“There is another thing you should thank me for, here catch.” Suddenly in Modus’ hand a katana appeared, as if it was made out of thin air. Modus threw it to Will, who caught the blade and gripped handle as if he had done this many times before.

W-what the? This...this is?

As Will held the blade a new sensation became apparent to him. Basic Information on how to use any kind of blade or sword, how to move with it, techniques and small insights revealed themselves to Will.

“ The information you have is from your second class. It has long been in your subconscious, but it needed a trigger to come out. Kind of like how a baby doesn't know that it can see until it opens its eyes.”

I see. That's why it feels so strange.

This information was rather different from all the other information he had received. It was much like his ability to control water. The sword in his hand felt like an extension of his arm. Like he has been using swords since he was able to walk.

Whilst Will was busy playing around with his new toy, Modus chimed in with some more news.

“Boy, did you check your stats?”

Will froze his movements, the word ‘stats’ bringing back to reality.

Shit! I forgot!

As a gamer Will knew very well that when your character has an upgrade, the first thing you do is to check your stats to see what has changed.

Will immediately closed one eye and opened up his menu, picking the stats option.

Username: Peerless Dao Master

Level: 3

Class: Watet Meister, Sword Apprentice

Energy type: Yuan

Points: 1000

Race: Human

Titles: Dual Pioneer.

Skills: Dual Mind (passive),Dual Mind Propagation, Class Duality (passive), Basic Swordsmanship (passive), Sword Enlightenment (passive), Water Enlightenment (passive), Water Manipulation.

Stats-

Endurance: 5 (+30)

Agility: 4 (+40)

Strength: 5 (+20)

Wisdom: 9 (+35)

Intelligence: 7 (+20)

Level 3?? What the? But I haven't killed a single thing.

Modus: “You noticed right? Your level has increased yet you barely did anything”

Will: “...”

Modus: “Even if you gain a new class, your level will not randomly increase. This increase stems from your cultivation.”

Modus’ words hit Will like an anvil. Cultivation is the same as leveling. If this was true, then this meant that the system was a very powerful entity. It could make people cultivate without them even knowing.

Such a thought was frightening. Will decided to click on his classes and skills to see what they can do.

Class: Water Meister- A master of the water element. Can freely control water with his or her mind. The degree of control including the radius and amount of water is dependent on wisdom and intelligence respectively. It is a duos class and has the ability to evolve.

Class: Sword Apprentice- A person endowed with knowledge on sword mastery. Sword apprentices are fast and have a lot of endurance. Their attack is stronger than their defence. A sword apprentice can use any kind of sword, blade or saber as if it was an extension of their arms. This is a duos class and can evolve.

Skill: Dual Mind (passive)- this ability allows one to split their mind into two parts, increasing intelligence and granting abilities like ambidexterity.

Skill: Dual Mind Propagation- doubles the abilities of dual mind every five levels.

Skill: Class Duality- grants the user the ability to posses two classes.

Skill: Basic Swordsmanship- grants the user knowledge on how to use basic sword skills.

Skill: Sword Enlightenment(passive)- allows one to become one with any sword, blade or saber. Improves ones ability to comprehend sword skills and understand the laws of nature.

Skill: Water Enlightenment(passive)- this ability allows one to have a complete understanding of water. It also grants one a connection to the laws of the water element.

Skill: Water Manipulation (passive)- allows one to freely manipulate any type of water as long as it isn't withing another lifeform.

Will was flabbergasted. These abilities…were super op! Like super overpowered! Will was confident that his dream of being an op grinding machine were near by. Unfortunately Modus did what Modus does best. Screw you over at the end.

“OK kid, I honered my part of the deal. Now its your turn.”. Immediately after, Modus snapped his fingers, then Will and himself disappeared from the room.

“Will I brought your food. I made your favourite… roast…chicken…” Will's Aunt opened her nephews door only to find he wasn't in the room. Little did she know that she would never see him for the next 5 years.

…

A few years later, in an abandoned city, a 14 year old girl was running. Her clothes were ragged and dirty. She appeared as if she hadn't had a bath in many days. She also looked somewhat malnourished, for her skin was pale and her arms were bony. She was wearing a ragged skirt and an even more ragged t shirt. Every few steps she took she would look back in fear.

A few meters behind her were some teenage boys. Dressed in all black attire. Pearcings all over their faces. They were running after the girl, each boy using his own means to attack her. Some were throwing fire balls. Some were throwing ice spears. Others were just making random noises enjoying the chase.

The girl had been running for so long she was out of breath. She was practically stumbling as she ran. After she made a right turn, her face lost all colour, for she had run Into an alley. Her pursuers blocking her way out.

“Now you have nowhere else to run. Now be a good little girl and let me and my friends have some fun” said one of the boys, as lust was prevalent all over these boys faces, each of them eyeing her like she was prey.

“Help! Someone please help!” She cried. The boys laughed at her futile efforts. Both parties knew that this area was abandoned for many miles. The only beings nearby where insects that were crawling in the darkness.

When the girls back finally hit the wall, she lost all hope. Her body slumping powerlessly onto the ground. Before her descent was finished, someone used their hands to hold her up again.

Assuming it was one of her chasers the girl started crying.

“Its ok, your safe now.”

What she saw instead was a new face. He was a dark skinned young man. Average height. His face was neither handsome nor ugly, but something about it was reassuring. He was wearing eastern white robes and had a sword strapped on his waste.

After consoling the girl he turned his attention to the boys. The boy wasn't big, nor was he tall, but his back was incredibly comforting to look at. His clean white robes gave her a sense of security she hadn't felt in a long time.

“Check his level” said the boy who seemed to be In charge. One of the other boys closed one of his eyes and waved his hands about. “Haha boss its all clear. He is only at level 20.”

Once the other boys heard this they sighed in relief, they looked at the white robbed boy like he was already dead.

“You.” Said the boy who seemed to be in charge,“What's your name?”

The white haired boy replied nonchalantly. Like this was a normal conversation he was having with a stranger.

“ Will. Will Chamberlain.”

“Well Will. You are a dead man. Any last words?”

As their leader said this the other boys started cracking their knuckles. As if they were about to beat Will up.

These look like scum who only increase their levels, their stats must be incredibly weak. I don't like wasting my time cutting up scum like this, but if I do I will probably look cooler. Oh I should also use a punchline! That would look so dope.

Will had a gentle smile on his face as he decided to end the lives of these boys.

He drew his sword and pointed it at the leader.

“Yes I do have one last thing to say, gentleman… grab some sky”

At that instant multiple heads flew, and blood covered the entire floor of that alley...

....

AN: Hey guys..check out my other book Titan's Throne at noodletowntranslated. com