“So, what was this chuuni stuff you typed? Were you drunk?” Kim asked, scrolling through her phone. She led me to the grass parcel attached to the church— it was in the back, away from the main road, though it was close enough that the occasional sound of a car could be heard. The sky was gray, and it was cold enough to see my breath in front of my face, but it wasn’t raining.

“What?”

“Chuuni. You know, like edgy— ‘I have seen the end of worlds’ bit.”

I frowned at that.

“Its true. I saw another world. Far beyond anything I’ve seen in your gates, populated by an endless tide of people.” I said, almost a whisper.

“You’re serious?”

“Yeah.”

Two sticks leaned against one of the walls, and I tensed as Kim reached for one, spinning it in her hand. She made no move to attack me, still. I scanned the area around us.

There was nothing but the sound of cars in the distance and the clatter of silverware from inside, and she gave me an odd but fascinated look.

“Okay, so let’s pretend you’re not fucking with me. You have a way to become more powerful, beyond your limits as an Awoken?” Kim asked. “What is it? Some kind of item?” She spun the stick in her hand.

“Its cultivation.” I said. Two simple words that could change the entire course of this world, with the rest of my knowledge. I was about to give it to someone— for free. To raise a cultivator meant to form a bond that could last for eternity. It wasn’t something to give so easily, and yet here I was, about to divulge secrets of ultimate power to a practical stranger. What enemies would I make with this decision? What future would I carve? Only time could tell. There were always those who would covet power, who would seek out its source. But I would give this power to someone good. Someone like Kim. I wouldn’t create another world of slaughter.

Kim scanned me with her eyes.

“I can sense power in you. Its vague, you know. Like a sixth sense Awoken have. Gives you a feel for how crazy a gate is going to be.” She paused. “Its uncomfortable normally, ranging from a tingle on the back of your scalp to the feeling of bugs crawling on your skin— or to intense pins and needles. That’s just for gates though. People with power feel different. Like your sister— she’s like a radiant sun. Warm and comforting, but if you get too close it might burn.”

I searched her face. It sounded like she was describing a prototypical spirit sense.

“What do I feel like, then?”

“Hmmm. Like a lake? Placid. Its vague and fuzzy, but definitely there.” She threw one of the sticks at me and I caught it. “How far can cultivation take you?” She grabbed the other, and I realized that stick was the wrong word. They were staffs, made of light wood.

“Cultivators are split into realms. From the First to the Ninth. My sister would be at the Sixth or Seventh, in terms of power.” I said, spinning the staff, feeling its weight. I had an expectation for what would come next. In a world where power reigned over everything, it would reign over the truth. She wanted to spar. “I’m currently at the Second.”

“A third of the way to your sister?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“Not quite. After the Third Realm, the power growth is exponential. But I am more than a match for you.” I said. It wasn’t arrogant. She raised an eyebrow, leaning forward into a stance some twenty feet away. She held the staff like a spear, and ever so slightly, it glowed. It was a flickering silver, dim and wafting lines of energy tracing down the staff in coiling patterns and up her arms. I twirled the staff.

“To first hit, then. Show me.”

“Sure. I’ll accept a spar. But lets make a bet on it.” I stretched.

She leaned back, exiting her stance. The staff still shone. “What bet?”

“If I win, you have to address me as your Senior.”

“And what do I get when I beat you?” She asked, a smile creeping its way up her face.

“What do you want?”

“Hmmmm. How about you tell me about this other world of yours?” She said, then paused, deliberating to herself. She nodded, then stepped back into her stance. “Yeah, that sounds right. Ready?”

Kim exploded forward without any more warning, thrusting with the staff with unnatural speed, pushing just beyond the border of human limits. My body struggled to keep up with my mind, and I forced Qi into my limbs to move the staff forward, separating my hands to block with the body of the staff.

It burned as it seared through my body. Using Qi to enhance my movements would become natural at the later realms, but here it had to be forced, and doing it before the body tempering stage burned my flesh. But my body accelerated, and I met her staff head on.

The piece of wood in my hands snapped in half, folding inwards, and Kim’s spear withdrew.

Shit.

The last staff I had was made of star-forged steel, not wood. I shouldn’t have blocked with it. Broken splinters peppered my face.

As if in slow motion, I saw her pull back the staff, glowing silver. She was going to beat me into submission. She could try.

I brought one half of the staff down, redirecting the spearing potion to my left, and swung the other towards her neck.

A shield of silver flashed into existence, between my blow and her neck, and she grunted with exertion from the effort. It was a band of silver runes, glowing and flashing in a perfect circle. There was a powerful sound from the crash of wood on metal and the bones in my arm groaned as the stick bounced off the shield.

She stepped to my left, cleaning stabbing again. I deflected, and we began a dance.

She was strong. Stronger than I was, even, but her techniques lacked grace. Every second that passed, we traded another blow. The sound of wood cracking against wood echoed out every time I took a step. She grunted, her body glowing with a silver light.

Her speed doubled. Qi was bleeding out of my core as I enforced my body, draining away like water. With one blow, I would deflect the spear, with a second reaching forward to attack her, each time parried by flashing shields or dodged by well timed footwork.

Until she slipped, foot caught on a rock, and I brought the staff down with all the force I could muster. Silver flashed on her skin, and it exploded into splinters with a crash.

She leaned on her staff, panting and looking up at me as I rose the second half of my staff to finish the fight—

No, it was a spar. I realized that I was panting, too, my arm raised above her head, eyes wide— I dropped the staff, and it fell onto the grass.

“You’re not unranked. And the energy in you is… its wrong. This close, I can sense it. You’re not even an Awoken. Its one thing to sense it and hear you say it, but seeing it is another.” She swallowed, recovering. “So, tell me. What the hell is cultivation?”

I breathed in, taking a look around. The sky was growing dark.

“Let’s head back inside.”