"Here we are. You'll be taking the lecture here."
By the end of their conversation, Desper and Darek reached a white, one-story building.
It was large, with multiple windows and a single door.
Desper could see many disciples in sect uniforms entering the building.
"Let's get in," Darek said.
Desper followed behind.
The building was one large hall on the inside. The ceiling was high. There was no decoration, just plain white walls with windows. Benches were arranged in two rows, with many disciples already sitting on them.
Desper noticed that they were of different ages. Some looked around eighteen, while others appeared to be in their twenties, even thirties. He could even guess that one of them was about forty.
There were around twenty-five disciples in total.
In front of them was a chair and a table. Sitting on the chair was an elder in his fifties.
He had gray hair and brown eyes. Wrinkles lined his face. His furrowed brows gave him a firm expression. He was observing the new disciples in silence.
Desper noticed that the colors of his robe were reversed: black robe with orange lines instead of the usual.
When Darek and Desper entered the hall, the elder looked up and said, "Oh, Darek. Are you one of this month's assistants?"
"Greetings, Fifth Elder. Yes, I will be one of them," Darek said respectfully, cupping his hands.
"Well, I'll be depending on you," the Fifth Elder nodded. Then he looked around. "Where is the other assistant?"
"I'm here," a young disciple standing in the corner replied.
The Fifth Elder nodded, then turned his gaze toward the seated disciples. He stood up and declared,
"Welcome, new disciples of our Angry Tiger Sect. I'm the Fifth Elder of the sect. I'll be giving you the first of two lectures that every new disciple must attend."
"In this lecture, you'll learn how to cultivate," he stated.
The Fifth Elder paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"In the past and before the appearance of the Spatial Cracks, people cultivated for power, glory, ethics, or their own personal reasons. But now... we cultivate to survive."
"First of all, what is cultivation? It means absorbing energy from surroundings into your Origin. That allows you to use that energy to strengthen your body and do amazing things ordinary people can't."
'I bet no ordinary person is enthusiastic to do these things,' Desper sneered inwardly.
"Everything begins with awakening your Origin. It is an incorporeal spherical structure located at the center of your body, between your chest and stomach. No one knows how it forms, but it always manifests after the age of ten, and never before."
Desper narrowed his eyes.
'If the Origin manifests after ten years of life, why don't I see any disciples younger than me here?' he wondered
"Once your Origin awakens, you've taken the first step into the world of cultivation. From that moment, you'll have twice the strength of a normal person."
"Your Origin can absorb and release energy according to your will."
Desper was confused. Darek told him that he had awakened his Origin. Yet, he didn't feel anything in the center of his body where the Origin should be.
"The first level of cultivation is called the Grafa Level, which means digging in an old language. As its name implies, you have to dig Energy Channels into your body at this stage."
"These Channels carry energy from your Origin to your body, strengthening it. They're also essential for higher levels of cultivation."
"Once you finish digging your channels throughout your body, you can break through to the next level, called the Mafari Level."
...
The Fifth Elder explained many things about cultivation.
Desper listened to every word the Fifth Elder said. He felt that if he didn't, he would deeply regret it.
His unexplained desire to become stronger was driving him.
After an hour, the Fifth Elder had explained everything he intended, but the lecture didn't end there.
"Most of you can't feel your Origins right now. Don't worry, that's normal. Usually, it takes some time after awakening the Origin to feel it. But we can accelerate the process by pouring a small amount of energy into it."
The Fifth Elder said this with his hands behind his back.
'I think that's the assistants' job,' Desper thought, glancing at Darek and the other assistant.
"I must warn you to cultivate properly. Just as your cultivation can rise, it can also decline. If you stop cultivating and digging your Channels, they will tighten, shorten, and eventually disappear. We call that Channels Collapse."
"If your Channels collapse, digging them again will be easier than the first time. But if it happens without a good reason, such as simply stopping cultivating, you will be punished by the sect." The Fifth Elder's tone turned serious.
Desper didn't know whether to feel anger, irony, or pity.
'Darek told me the Angry Tiger Sect is a seventh-tier sect which is the lowest tier. That means it's responsible for a territory where only the weakest monsters appear.' he recalled.
'I bet if someone breaks through the Grafa Level to the Mafari Level, they'll be sent to a higher sect, not as a reward, but to fight stronger monsters.
'How pitiful cultivators' lives are,' Desper thought. 'First, they have to risk their lives fighting monsters and Spoiled Cultivators. Second, they must cultivate constantly to avoid punishment and keep advancing. But as they rise, they're only thrown into more danger.'
'Sigh… it may be unfair, but if they don't do it, humanity would be wiped out by the monsters' ferocity.' He sighed and refocused on the Elder.
"Each disciple can receive ten low-grade red stones every month from the Allowance Hall. These stones contain energy five times more concentrated than the energy in the air."
"They're very useful for cultivation, and you can use them as currency to buy certain things in the sect."
"Lastly, I should mention that there's a competition for new disciples every three months," the Elder sighed. "The next one is next month. It's unfair to you, but we can't change that."
Desper narrowed his eyes.
'By the time of the competition, some disciples will have trained for three months, others just one. And I'm one of the latter.'
'Utterly unfair.' Desper scoffed.
"There will be three winners in this competition. They'll receive a flask of Red Energy Liquid. It's similar to the red stones, but far more valuable."
"The three winners will then fight for the main prize: a Purifying Pill."
"This rare pill is only acquired once every three months. It refines your body and makes it easier to dig Channels, greatly increasing your cultivation speed."
The Fifth Elder paused, as if thinking.
"I think that's all for this lecture. Now, if you haven't felt your Origin yet, ask one of the assistants to help you."
After saying that, the Fifth Elder left the hall without another word.
Darek and the other assistant stood up in front of the disciples.
Desper noticed five disciples leaving the hall. He assumed they had already sensed their Origins.
The remaining disciples lined up in front of Darek and the assistant.
Desper didn't join the line right away. Darek had told him he would take him on a tour of the sect, so Desper waited for him to finish his work.
One by one, the disciples left the room. When only one was left, Desper approached Darek.
Darek placed his palm on the disciple's back. After a moment, the disciple's body trembled.
"Did you feel it?" Desper asked the disciple with a smile.
"Y-Yes, I did. Thank you, big brother," the disciple said with a shaking voice before leaving.
"Your turn," Darek said.
Desper nodded.
Darek placed his hand on Desper's back.
A warm sensation streamed into Desper's body.
Suddenly, Desper's eyes widened.
His body trembled as the warmth didn't stop. It kept pouring in, like his body had become a black hole, endlessly hungry for more.
"Wha—"
Shocked, Desper turned his head to speak.
But Darek looked worse. His eyes were shut tightly, his muscles twitching, and his body drenched in sweat.
'What is happening?! This didn't happen with the others.'
Desper focused inward. A small part of the stream was being absorbed in the center between his stomach and chest. There, a small gray sphere was gathering the energy.
But most of the energy wasn't going there.
Instead, it was being absorbed into his chest where a larger black sphere sat in place of his heart. It devoured the energy like a black hole.
Desper was stunned.
Tw—two Origins?