“So is this… it?” Kim asked as we walked, flexing and inspecting her fingers. We stepped through the undergrowth towards the forest edge, and this time we weren’t accosted by a single monster. We were covered in blood and sweat.

“Do you feel empowered?”

“I don’t feel any different.” She said, staring at me with a confused expression. That was honestly pretty normal, considering how small the gap between a mortal and a cultivator at the foundation realm was.

“You probably won’t even notice the lower bounds of the Foundation Realms until you begin to reach the end of the Second Realm. Since you’re already enhanced as an Awakened.”

“So I should hold off on getting another evaluation.” Kim clicked her tongue. “And here I was thinking I’d be ready to advance after this.”

I chuckled at that. Everyone who stepped onto the path, no matter how young or old, were always eager to grab at power. I evaluated Kim again. I had begun to push her forward down the path of cultivation. Rather fast, honestly. In two weeks she reached the First Realm. Was that fast? My perspective of cultivation was skewed— only prodigies entered my eyes at the top of the demonic sect, and thats where I had stayed for centuries. But before that, even finding control of Qi would take months. I wondered if it was a result of Awakened having similar abilities, or whether Kim herself was prodigious.

Time would tell.

“You still have lots to do. Focus on absorbing the Qi from the air. Its slower, but its a skill you’ll have to master to reach the next realm. Absorb the Qi until your Dantian stops accepting it.”

“Got it.” Kim said. “Fill the Dantian. Uh, what the hell is a Dantian, by the way? I can sort of… feel it. It feels just like the sinkhole above my heart.”

“A Dantian is a metaphysical space capable of storing Qi. Almost like a spiritual small world, it will form the base of your cultivation, hosting your power. Once you have one, you can store more and more power, allowing a cultivator to gain the Qi necessary to enhance their body, attune it to their Dao, and use it to utilize techniques or temporary bodily enhancement. Only once its formed and attuned can we begin training you in the basic martial forms and techniques.”

“Got it. Fill the Dantian. Get magic kungfu powers.”

“Magic Kungfu powers…” I opened my mouth to correct her but stopped. She wasn’t wrong, per se, just irreverent.

“And thats what you used to fight me? Bodily enhancement.”

“Yes.” I nodded an affirmation, and then there was a calm silence for a few moments as we moved through the forest.

“What kind of techniques are there?”

“It depends on the path you cultivate. I’ll likely be able to teach you a lesser variation of the Moonlit path. One of the Stellar paths, which often manifest techniques related to the constellation that they match.”

“Got it. Magic star kungfu.” Kim stretched an arm as they walked, massaging a sore muscle.

We headed back through the forest and towards the gate— it hovered ominously in midair, stretched open and anchored to the world through magical artifice. The boundaries singed the air, flowing neon blue painting the world in contrast to the crawling vines around them. Approaching the gate from the side, it was little more than a flat plane, but as we stepped around it, I could see the inside of the blast-door waiting room that was standard at the exit to every gate. The gate hovered slightly off the ground, but I was still able to step up to it.

I turned to offer Kim a hand, who took it, sailing up and onto the solid ground inside. My eyes lingered on the gate for a second, then Kim hit a button on the wall, and the blast door began to fall.

It was like a small world. No, it was a small world— a little piece of reality cut and grafted onto our own, its own separate but equally real space. What had happened to earth to cause the opening of the gates? There was no information about the origin of them to be found on public forums, but someone had to know. I should ask Kim next time I see her. I didn’t even question my awakening here. The earth I had returned to was strange, yes, but to me who had lived in the other world for so long, it wasn’t so strange that I would question all of it. There were many forms of cultivations and many worlds.

“Ready to go?” Kim asked, taking her bag from the locker. I nodded. Kim stole a few glances to me as we walked to the exit and onto the street.

In a few minutes, we had left the quiet and earthy scents of the forest of crawling vines into the bustle of the city. Cars rushed up and down the road, people lingering here and there outside.

“You know, we’re doing another soup night tonight at the church. If you wanna join.” Kim said. I raised an eyebrow. “Its— we’re not actually serving soup, though! Its hot dogs tonight.”

“I already have plans for tonight.” I said, offering a smile. “Call me when you’ve filled your Dantian, though.”

“Yeah, sure.” Kim said.

I stepped through the elevator into Willow’s apartment, my arms heavy with groceries, and stepped into the Kitchen. Hooty slipped and slid on the ground, charging towards me.

“Hooty! Down!” I said, stepping passed the Owlbear and into the Kitchen to unload the groceries. Hooty skidded to a stop in the living room. After filling the fridge, I pulled out and unloaded paper bags full of fish into his dish. The bowl itself was gigantic, needing both my arms to carry it— not for the weight of it, mind you, just the fact that it was so wide around.

I filled it with pounds of raw fish from the market.

Willow could easily have all this delivered, but I was guessing she enjoyed shopping for the Owlbear. She must have had someone take care of this previously, when I was… away. Which meant she did it more as a hobby.

Hooty rubbed his face against my hand, making a soft cooing noise that did not at all fit with his stature. He filled half the Kitchen on his own.

“Just a second…” I hefted the bowl, moving it to the floor carefully, and Hooty tore into it. I stroked his feathers as I moved by him, kicking my shoes off into the kitchen and sliding into the living room.

It was cozy.

Very quiet without Willow or Rose here. I hesitated.

It was best to cultivate in silence, but I flipped the TV on, the channel replaying old episodes of that c-drama, and then I sat in front of the window, just like I did every night, and cultivated until the sun set, moonlight trickling around me.