“Okay, you ready to turn the speed up one?”

I nodded, not replying with words— I was too busy focused on my breathing and the physically strenuous activity of trying to stay standing while walking. The treadmill accelerated beneath me.

“You’re doing good! Your recovery speed is miraculous.” The therapist said, standing beside the machine at a control panel. Alien looking devices hovered above, scanning down towards me, and he presumably was monitoring my vitals with them. I don’t remember technology that advanced existing.

We kept at it, working on the machine for several minutes, until I was panting and sweating, my muscles unable to keep up with it. The therapist killed the treadmill, and I held my knees, panting.

“Okay, okay, great job!” He reached for a cup, attaching it to something like a soda machine that poured it full and left it with shimmering swathes of green and red light. “Alright, take a break, drink this, we’ll go again in five.”

“What is it?” I looked suspiciously at the offered cup, panting. I could sense Qi in it— not more than a mote, but Qi of Vigor and Life floated inside of it, like an ultra low grade elixir or medicine.

“Don’t worry, there’s just a drop of potion in it— not enough for any negative side effects.”

The amount of Qi in it… it would be disruptive to someone who hadn’t entered the First Stage of cultivation, but not deadly. I drank it, circling the Qi into my body. Without reaching the realm of Dantian Ignition, I wasn’t truly cycling it, but guiding it into the pattern it would follow when I did.

It did have some restorative property, too— as it cycled within my body, the soreness from my muscles disappeared, and I could feel them reconstituting themselves.

“Alright, that's all we can do for today. We don’t want to push you to use too many potions.”

I nodded at that, and my sister burst into the room from behind us.

“Miss, there is a waiting room—“

“Bro! I leave for two minutes and you go hiding!” She talked over the therapist, who sighed, resigned himself to taking the corner of the room and typing away at his desk.

“Its been a couple hours.” I replied as she stomped up to me, shoving a box into my hands. “Latest phone! Check it out! Sim card is inside and set up with a number.” She looked up at me. “They got unlimited data now. And its sooooo fast. You’ll love it, for video games, or whatever.”

I started unwrapping it. I wanted to access the Internet— to read up on this world and how much it had changed. I stared down at the phone— it was one of the most expensive brands.

“How much did this cost?” I asked, squinting.

“What? Oh, like a grand or two, I don’t know. I had my assistant go out and buy it, its not important, anyway, look at thiiiiis!” She said, reaching into a bag and pulling out what looked to be a bandolier. It looked like it was made of Kevlar and slotted into it were what could only be potions. These weren’t the weak, diluted stuff— they burned red, and merely opening the bag suffused the room with Life Qi soaking through the glass and filling the air. I raised my eyebrows at this, and the therapist leaned over.

“You can’t give those to him— you— the research on giving healing potions to people suffering from degeneration or atrophy—“ I plucked one of the potions from the bandolier, feeling the Qi roaring inside. There was an ample supply of it— however, it wasn’t that dense. It would help me reach the peak of the first realm, but it wouldn’t take me beyond it.

Willow frowned. “You mean these won’t just heal him? Are you sure? I’ve seen a wound thiiis big—“ she gestured with her hands. “—fix itself back up in seconds, but these can’t just heal him?”

“Potions don’t work like that.” The therapist said, walking towards the bandolier. I snatched it back towards myself. I wasn’t giving it up.

“I respect your advice, honored senior,” I said, “But these are a gift from my family. I won’t take them, but I will keep them on hand.”

“Pfft, honored senior?” My sister said, leaning over me. “Is he alright, doc?”

“All of his vitals are looking good, actually. He is recovering quickly enough that its likely he is an Awakened.”

“Of course he is.” Willow smiled, slapping an arm around me and pulling me towards her. “He is my brother, isn’t he?”

“Uh, yes, Ms. Gold. On any note, that's all of the physical therapy for today. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I stared down at the potion in my hands, burning with Qi.

I tilted the bottle of red liquid in my hand. What was the best way to absorb it? I could siphon it slowly through the glass… but that would likely take hours.

There was a special seal on the top, an embossed piece of metal that hovered with Qi of its own, likely some kind of seal to keep the energy contained. Once I opened it, it would be a matter of time before the Qi dissipated into the air. I could open the bottle and continue absorbing it out of the air, but some would be lost…

No, the best thing to do was drink it. I sat on the edge of my hospital bed— a hospital bed in a private room— and knocked the bottle back.

The room glowed red from the bandolier, contrasting with the soft blue light of the moon outside, pouring over my shoulders like silver liquid. At first the healing potion was a cooling sensation that trailed down my body. Left over soreness in my muscles cleared away like water blasting away dirt, my meridians fired to life with full force, burning brightly inside of me as I focused my cultivation path, running the Qi through predetermined channels and meridians to change its attunement and nature.

Then, finally, when the Qi had no where left to go, after healing every sore muscle, ache, pain, chafe, and cut, it began to boil. It was like liquid fire on my insides, building and bubbling and pushing its way through my body. I grit my teeth, holding my eyes closed as sweat began to roll down my face.

Wresting control of the Qi, I began directing it once again. Now, I was at the pinnacle of the first stage of Qi Gathering in the Foundation realm, I began to push the Qi outwards, diffusing it through my body.

It was like waves of fire searing my flesh, and the pain clashed with the restorative properties of the wild energy, battling each other like fire and water dancing in my flesh. Pain would radiate out from my meridians, only to be soothed seconds later. Then the soothing energy would find no where to go and begin to burn.

For nearly an hour I sat, processing it, and then as quickly as it started, it was over.

There was a lot of Qi, but with its quality so low, this had only just pushed me over into the Second Stage, the beginning of Qi Saturation. I would still have the strength of an ordinary mortal until the Third Stage of the First Realm. But between these potions and regular cultivation, I would grow and develop faster than any mortal could.

I spent each day at the hospital after that the same way. My mornings started with me absorbing a bottle and then eating as much as the hospital would let me take.

I followed it up with physical therapy, cultivating while walking on the treadmill.

Within three days, I went from walking to jogging.

When I asked for more potions, Willow brought me more. Within a week, I went from jogging to sprinting around the track.

“Goodmorning Rain!”

“Doctor.” I greeted, nodding my head as I dashed through the halls for the track outside.

“Rain! Up early again?” The lunch lady said as I passed, making my way to the track outside. My feet crunched over the gravel, the early morning chill of the Colorado mountains seeping into my bones as I stepped up to the track. An old man met me at the starting line, working on his stretches.

He stood in horse stance, and I joined him in silence, working my way through the exercises.

“Think you can keep up this time?” He asked me as we stretched.

I smirked. “Elder, I don’t dare run ahead of you.”

“You little shit! Like you’ve been letting me win! You cant keep up with those legs!”

“I’ll give you a head start.” I said, already warming up.

“Hmph, I’ll see if you can be so cocky when I lap you!”

The air, hot and wet, pressed against me in nothing but a towel, my skin slicked with sweat as I pressed my back into the wooden wall of the sauna. My hair clung to my head, and I ran my fingers through it, sighing. This hospital was top of the line— it felt more like a resort for retired millionaires, but here it was dead in the center of the city.

The view from the roof had been fantastic. The old man stepped inside.

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Elder, you ought to put a towel on.” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I hear you’re almost ready for release.” He said, sitting down across from me.

“I can’t wait to see how the world has changed.” I replied, grinning. “I want to see these gates.”

The old man frowned. “Just be careful. The gates are dangerous business, even for the Awakened.”

“Thank you for your advice.” I replied.

Within a month, I hit the pinnacle of the Second Stage of the First Realm, my entire body saturated with Qi.

And I was ready to leave. Willow had a promise to show me these gates, after all.