Jason wakes up to Courtney poking him. He never liked being woken up and this is a particularly irritating way to do so but the middle of the night isn’t the time to be grumbling. The rock Courtney had been on isn’t too cold yet so Jason decides to perch atop it as well.

The shift is peaceful enough but he ends it quite irritated. Jason couldn’t help but think about the runes however he needed to pay attention to his job. Since nothing happened though it felt like a wasted night. While it is easy to understand something might have attacked there is still that little voice in the back of his head. Whispers of how he should have practiced the runes, there wasn’t anything to worry about, and things are peaceful.

Those voices get quashed with impunity by him. To give in is just one long or if unfortunate quite short slippery slope to your doom. Now though it is Rosha’s turn to deal with such things as he wakes her up and logs off again.

Back in the real world Jason clambers out of his pod and stumbles into the living room. In the same corner as last time a new punching back is sat. He had just spent all his watch worrying about the runes but he still can’t put down the physical aspect of the skill. In fact the more he thinks about it what he learned isn’t even technically a part of the skill. Rather, he will be able to just fire off the attack anytime he puts his foot down.

What he had learned was more along the lines of being taught how to punch properly but at a much higher level. The stomp was way beyond the equivalent of knowing to put your thumb over your other fingers when you make a fist. It wasn’t even something as stupid as how to move each muscle. Rather she had instilled in him though just a short demonstration an ethos of how one should stomp for the best effect. Not just how to stomp but when and where.

The memory of it from in game is nice but as a martial artist and cultivator Jason has a deep desire to grind the move into his muscles and bones. To take the memory and make it a reaction, both in and out of NeoRealm.

So once again a punching bag suffers for his art. This time even with Jason holding back the bag breaks sooner than the last. “I can see where this is heading. Punching bags are cheap but that is the second one in only a handful of hours. Better make a slight change to before I order the next one. Probably the military’s standard bag will do at only ten times the price. Still cheap but the next grade of punching bag after that is a hundred times the military bag’s price. Understandable, that is getting into the realm of being used to test exosuits but I would have to make some gold to afford it.”

His bag order changed and a cleared floor later has Jason cultivating once again. He might need a more lengthy rest in the future but for now he can hold out. Instead, all those energy types in the air are calling his name. The last time he had only sensed for them, tonight he wanted to draw them in.

Seated on the floor Jason relaxes. The energy in the air just on the edge of his senses as he waits. Breathe out through the mouth and feel the air leave. Breathe in through the nose and hold it. Tongue on the roof of the mouth and once again breathe out. Keep breathing out till there is nothing left and hold. Through the nose breathe in but keep going till it naturally stops. Hold it again and then, tongue in place, breathe out all the way. Repeating the last bits over and over Jason continues until he feels it is time.

Now for the secret to properly cultivating. He hadn’t bothered with it in NeoRealm. In fact he might have mistakenly assumed it wouldn’t work in there. NeoRealm was a product of this world’s imagination so he had figured any cultivation in the game would be based purely on the fiction as well. That one genre defining mistake that limits what this world has done with cultivation.

Jason breathes out fully and is ready. He closes his mouth and makes the action of breathing in. However he does not let any air enter him. The suction force can be felt in his chest and most importantly the pit of his stomach. As he holds this suction for as long as he can the energy in the air around is jostled. Then he has to breathe in again.

As he repeats the energies all around him diverts from their natural paths. The energies already inside of him are the first to join but soon the air within a couple inches of his skin has lost most of its energy as well. In the pit of his stomach the various energies gather. Some escape his grasp when he has to breathe but part has formed a small flow inside of his body. Like a slow whirlpool it catches the energy, becoming a part of his body’s natural energy field.

Jason measures the amount with care. Moments before he has enough to advance himself he stops. In fact he starts to do the reverse. With his lungs full of air he gently does the action for breathing out without actually letting any air go. Throughout his body loose energy from the outside is pushed away from him. What was caught in the pit of his stomach does get pushed on as well. However he is gentle enough that none except that which was on the very edge can escape. Now clear of the excess energy Jason has a much more difficult task to accomplish. Separating any energy types which don’t fit him from the rest and removing it.