Opening the small gate that leads to the training room bore some resemblance to magic in itself. Inserting the jade key that looked just like an ordinary, polished crystal, made the rows sculpted into this stone blockade light up before a gap appeared in the middle only for two halves of the door to swoosh to the sides.

What the hell, this is supposed to be a cultivation world, not some Stur Wurs1 inspired mechanism!

Tilting my head to the sides to brush those thoughts off, I enter the room while barely able to hold my excitement. The inconsistency of the worldbuilding of this place is way over the top, but that doesn't change my aim or situation. Who could ever think of something so stupid?

While I had some doubts concerning this place endurance, just from the domineering aura covering the walls I could gauge that my worries were misplaced. With experts of this auction house calibre living in this city, with the thematical focus of this town placed on the arenas and tournaments, there was no way they would save on safety measures in their training rooms!

Calling it a room isn't exactly true to the sheer scale of this place. With three walls creating a triangular space, I could barely see the opposite end. I said walls, but nothing about the ceiling, because there was no roof to speak off in the first place! Instead of limiting the upper attitude available to cultivators with fragile and unstable materials, the creator of this place simply used some kind of barrier, firmly lodged in the walls supporting it.

"What should we start with?"

Noticing my amazement as I analyzed the structure of this place, Eve lightly tilted my shoulder in an attempt to shake me off from my daze.

"While I would love to have fun with my new path, I think testing those should take priority."

Dishing the spirit stones from my storage ring, I took one in my hand while throwing the next to Eve. After inspecting it for a bit, I was stuck. How should I absorb the energy contained within?

Taking a look at my beloved standing a few paces away, I could clearly see a blueish mist seeping from the stone she was using. Feeling our cultivation starting up, this strange mist quickly entered her body. With the energy driving through my own body as well, I could feel a pulling force affecting the stone, forcing it to spew out its mist as well.

But I don't want to cultivate using it!

Bonger, can you absorb the energy from this stone?

"Blop!"

"Converting the energy from spirit stones is impossible."

"Host can use the spirit stones to replenish his mana."

"Only reformed energy can be used to strengthen the system!"

Just as I was worried about, this stone wouldn't prove to be useful for my growth. While the ability to restore mana was quite useful, it also limited the worth of those stones for me! But that might not hold true to Eve!

As she continued to absorb more and more of the blueish mist, I could clearly feel our cultivation reinforcing and speeding up. While the change wasn't as big as I could wish for, it couldn't be doubted that it has some positive effects!

"Take this one as well!"

Throwing the stone that I involuntarily used to Eve, I stepped a few steps aside and focused back on the system within me.

Bonger, would you be so kind as to explain the mage path in details for me?

"Blop!"

"Mage path is focused on crafting spells and magics that can act as tools to channel host's mana."

"The spell crafting ability is currently locked"

"Current abilities available: Small fireball, Smal shockwave, Small wind slash, Small ground slam, Weak barrier"

"It is advised for the host to practice up to three abilities at once!"

Wait, that's it? Not even a word how should I reach further heights with this path? No cost? What a scam!

But thinking about it, it said something about practice. Instead of ranting, I can ignore this damn pointgrubber and focus on the abilities that I acquired.

Considering how crafting my own spells is still locked, I don't want to risk combining two different abilities into one. While the thought of spamming fireballs and wind slash to augment the explosion certainly appeared in my head, at this point I'm almost sure that Bonger wouldn't allow for such an obvious improvement! Before figuring out the best set of abilities, it would be wise to test them out!

"FIREBALL!"

Pointing my hand in the direction of the faraway wall, I scream from the bottom of my lungs. As if something poked at my energy, I can feel a minuscule amount of my mana being drawn away from my body, before a laughably small ball of fire, comparable to the one you can create by piling up few matches and lighting them up appeared a few centimetres above my palm. Instead of flying where I aimed with my hand, it simply hovered over my palm despite all my attempts to shake it off!

No matter what did I try, throwing, slapping away, even blowing at it with my own mouth didn't affect it at all! Only when idiocy of this entire situation got to my head and my anger piled up enough, I felt a tilt of annoyance and decided to brush it off with my energy. Since it was created with mana, it surely would be destroyed by it as well!

Just as a golf ball after being hit by the professional player, when a small bust of my energy attacked the fire on top of my palm, it suddenly swooshed away! Unable to even follow its movements with my eyes, I only saw a small explosion happening at the opposite end of the room!

So that's how you use it!

"Blop!"

"Successful cast of the fireball!"

"Proficiency reaches level 2"

"Further notifications will appear only during level up's or per host's request!"

"Progress to the third level: 0/50"

yes, yes, everyone knows what I mean