Skaya stared down at the boy, sprawled out on the bed before her. Man, she corrected herself. He looked to be in his twenties, and this backwater world treated people of that age as adults. How was it that a place with such cursedly low levels of essence was able to produce a cultivator?

It should have been impossible, hence the reaction of the Imperial Guard, however Skaya knew better. This planet held no value beyond the sheer quantity of cannon fodder it would provide for the war efforts. Fifty million recruits a month, and it would be sustainable once they started to roll out initiatives to increase native population growth. It was a gem of quantity, but the quality was sorely lacking. No sect or clan would bother looking in a place like this.

Her uncle, the Emperor, had sent her here to ensure a smooth transition of power, and as a punishment for her failures. With this find, she knew she would be back in her uncle’s good graces once again. She had reviewed the man’s scan data, and it was beyond impressive. Off the charts essence compatibility and over seven hundred unopened meridians. With the right investments, he could become a cornerstone of the Empire. Of course that assumed he had the time and resources necessary for him to grow.

Skaya started typing on her wristband. She sealed all the man’s files, sent a missive to her uncle, and put in quarantine orders for anyone that had encountered him thus far. Word of him could not spread, or his life would be in danger.

The man stirred, and she focused her thoughts. With how powerful the man could become, she would have to be careful in how she recruited him. It would be such a waste if she had to kill him.

---

Alex didn’t have a particularly good day after his encounter with the scanning device. He’d be chained, put into a metal box, and shipped to some facility. They dumped him in a cell, and he’d been sitting in the dimly lit room for what felt like hours. The cell had a short bed and a toilet, not exactly ideal conditions, but he did manage to snooze for a bit on the bed. He briefly considered cultivation over sleep, but decided not to do the thing that got him locked up in a cell to begin with.

When he woke from his nap, he stood up and stretched. His stomach grumbled and he realized he hadn’t eaten since the day before he turned up to the recruitment center. He just hadn’t had an appetite, something he now regretted. Just as he was about to shout at the walls about getting something to eat, his cell door slid open and Skaya walked in.

Alex felt a forceful presence press down on him, as if simply being in the same room as Skaya strained his very body and soul. He assumed this was the effect of being in close proximity to a powerful cultivator.

The two stared at one another for a moment. Skaya’s eyes gold, cold, and calculating, Alex’s blue, confused, and curious.

Skaya broke the silence first, “What is it you most wish for, Alex Weisman?”

She didn’t expect the laugh she got in response.

“Did I say something funny?” She asked, and pulsed her aura, forcing Alex to his knees from the added pressure.

Alex groaned outwardly, and cursed himself inwardly. Him and his damn tongue were going to get him into major trouble.

“Answer my question, mortal.”

Alex felt his heart stop at the command. Mortal. Indicating she was, in fact, not a mortal. A being so far above him her very presence could likely kill him. And he had managed to piss her off.

“S- sorry,” he managed to force out between chattering teeth, fear gripping his chest like a vice, “It’s just not the first time I’ve been asked what I wish for in recent times.”

Alex got an odd look from that response, but she said nothing in response. He slowly stood up, but his shaky legs barely supported him, so he collapsed onto the bed behind him.

“To answer your other question,” Alex continued, feeling the fear start to recede, “I thought I wanted to be a cultivator, you know, rise to the top and become a supreme being, but right now? I’d settle for some knowledge on what the hell is going on in this universe.”

“A cultivator, yes,” Skaya said, ignoring the second half of what Alex said, “And how exactly is it you’ve managed to cultivate in such an essence poor environment? For someone of your age to transform the marrow in half their skeleton before the age of thirty, here of all places, is quite the impressive feat.

“An odd choice by the way, what sort of cultivation method starts with the marrow? I’m not that knowledgeable about cultivation, but from what I do know that is a rather unorthodox approach to the body transformation stage.”

Alex took a moment to process everything he’d just heard before responding. What he’d accomplished in days should have taken years? And this lady wasn’t a cultivator? What the hell was she then?

“I guess I’m just talented,” Alex replied, trying to put a confident grin on his face and failing admirably, “And I’m self taught, so I don’t have a manual to follow. Can I ask what you are if you aren’t a cultivator? You indicated earlier you are an immortal, so you must do something similar to cultivation.”

Skaya smiled at Alex, “Caught that did you? There are many paths to immortality, the most common in the Empire is through the path of knowledge. I am an archmage.”

She stated this as if Alex would know exactly what it meant, but he just stared at her in puzzlement.

“No matter, we’ve digressed from what I wanted to discuss. You indicated you want power and knowledge, two things I can offer you. I am prepared to adopt you into my lineage, provide you with resources and training, and to introduce you to the Emperor himself. In exchange, you will serve my household for the next…” Skaya paused, considering what timeframe to request. With the right resources, Alex would become immortal, but currently his sense of time was likely very skewed. Centuries he would never agree to, but decades he might. “Fifty or your earth years.”

“You want me to work for you for the next fifty years? That's a solid chunk of my lifetime, why would I agree to that?”

“It would be if you stayed a mortal, but you’ve already embarked on the path to Godhood,” Skaya said, “For you, fifty years will be but a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things. Besides, people would kill for the opportunity to work for me. I’m offering you the opportunity to work with me. What do you say?”

Alex considered for a moment. What were his options? Refuse and at best be conscripted into the war efforts, at worst be executed. Accept and have resources from someone in charge of conquering a planet for the Empire. The more he thought about it, the less it seemed like a choice to him. That still left the most important question though.

“Why are you offering me this?”

She sighed at the question, “Call it intuition. Talented cultivators are rare. Cultivators that aren’t tied to a sect or clan even more so. I imagine there will be massive dividends for any investment I put into you.”

The answer was generally in line with what he had expected, though a bit more vague than he would have liked. Nonetheless, he wasn’t in much of a position to refuse. He stuck out his hand, “I accept.”

Skaya stared at his hand in confusion. Alex awkwardly put it down, “Sorry, it’s a gesture from my world. We shake hands when we make an agreement.”

“In my world,” Skaya responded, “We sign our contracts in blood. It is much more binding.”

---

Alex was led to a comfortable office filled with padded wooden furniture and a massive wooden desk. He absentmindedly noticed how contrasting the decor was from the typical Gold Roc decorations. Skaya appeared to prefer simpler, much less ostentatious surroundings. That seemed to fit with the simple black robes she wore even now.

After they entered the room, Alex watched Skaya open a drawer on the desk, pull out a piece of paper, and start writing. He stepped forward to get a glance at what she was writing, and was surprised to see it was in English. A few moments after she started writing she appeared to be finished. The paper was pushed across the desk towards him, and he reached down to pick up what he assumed was a contract.

The contract Skaya had drawn up was incredibly simple. In exchange for 50 years of employment under Skaya (with the ability to refuse morally questionable and life endangering orders), she would adopt him and provide him with training resources typical to a child of her Duchy. This was also how he learned she was the niece of the Emperor. The meeting with the Emperor was something he'd asked her to leave out of the contract. He wasn't sure he wanted to meet one of the most powerful people in the universe any time soon.

In all honesty, it was more than he could have hoped for, and if he really was going to live for thousands of years well worth it. He didn't hesitate when it came time to pick his finger and drop some blood on the contract. Well, except for the whole stabbing himself bit. That slowed him down a little.

Alex watched as a drop of blood fell from his finger, down onto the contract. The paper flashed a dull blue light. When Skaya’s blood dropped onto it, a blinding flash of gold filled the room.

"Excellent," Skaya said once they were all finished, "Now, son, we can discuss your training."

"What do you mean when you say son?"

She stepped around the desk and sank into one of the cushioned chairs. Her left hand waved for him to sit as well, to which he obliged, sitting at a chair opposite her across a wood and glass coffee table.

"As part of the contract, I hereby accept adopt you into my house as my heir. Congratulations, Alex of House Skaya."

"House Skaya? Does that mean you have a different name than that? And we didn’t discuss me being your heir, that seems like a rather big decision, for both of us."

Skaya smiled at him and changed the subject.

“You mentioned you are self taught when it comes to cultivation. Is that true?”

Alex nodded.

“Our world has…” he paused, searching for the right phrasing, “Legends regarding cultivation. Stories that have grown in variety over time, and I based my practice off a summation of some of those stories.”

“I see,” she said, “Tell me more about what your plan is.”

“Well, obviously I decided to start with a body transformation phase,” Alex quickly started to explain, “The plan is to saturate my marrow with essence, followed by viscera training, then bone, skin, and muscle and ligament training. Once I finished that phase, I was going to move onto opening my meridians. I have a few other phases planned out, but nothing concrete. My intent was to see where the training led and adjust the planning as I discovered more about how the cultivation really works.”

“A remarkably solid plan,” Skaya mused, she waved her hand over the table and a feast appeared before them. Alex gaped as Skaya poured herself a cup of tea from a steaming jade teapot. “In that regard, I can offer you a few cultivation manuals collected by my family over the years. We do not practice the systems, but you could either follow them or use them for inspiration.”

She took a sip of her tea and sighed with pleasure before sitting back in her chair. Alex glanced at the spread on the table, he started to remember that he was famished.

“May I?” He asked, trying to be polite.

“By all means, though you may find the tea to be a bit… strong.”

He quickly filled up a plate with roasted meats, grilled vegetables, and some sort of dumpling.

“Beyond the cultivation manuals, I can get you the best equipment the Empire has to offer. Weapons, armor, auxiliary equipment, you name it, and if I can find it you shall have it. Additionally, I’ll ensure you have appropriate locations for cultivation. You may not realize it, but the essence on this planet is suffocatingly lacking. You should note a marked increase in your rate of cultivation once we get you into a cultivation chamber in one of the facilities here.”

Alex nodded along, and started to eat. The first bite of meat, something similar to pork, was absolute heaven. He’d never tasted anything so phenomenal before. He began to wolf down his food, and Skaya stopped talking for a moment to watch him with amusement.

“Don’t eat too much,” she warned, eyes crinkling up, “The food likely has more essence in it than you’ve consumed in your lifetime.”

He paused with a piece of meat halfway to his mouth, “This food has essence in it?”

Skaya nodded, “One of the side benefits of this new beast wave is there is no shortage of high level beast meat. It is excellent for training supplementation.”

Alex felt a source of heat start to grow in his belly. At first he thought it was just his imagination, but it soon went from a pleasant heat to a bonfire.

“You’ll want to start cultivating soon, before the energy rips your stomach to shreds.”

The plate and food slipped from Alex’s fingers. He pulled his feet up onto the chair, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate. It took a few moments for him to adjust his method to pull essence from his stomach rather than his longs, but it was a relatively painless transition.

The flood of essence was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. Where before he would pull in five to ten particles of essence with each breath, now he was flooded with thousands and thousands of particles blasting out of the food he’d eaten. It was a struggle to contain everything and direct it towards the marrow in his skull.

After several minutes, his skull marrow was fully saturated and he moved on to his left arm. That filled up within another few minutes, and the deluge of essence hadn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Time passed quickly, and soon both his arms and his legs had completed their marrow infusions. Bone by bone, Alex filled up his marrow with essence. Soon the only bones remaining were in his spine.

Before he could start on those, the energy finally dissipated. Alex opened his eyes to find Skaya lounging in her chair, typing away at a screen projected from a bracelet on her left arm.

“Finally finished?” She asked, not bothering to look up from her work, “I hope you made good progress.”

“Amazing progress,” Alex said, still in awe at what he had just experienced, “All I have left for marrow transformation is my spine.”

Skaya’s eyebrows shot up and she shot him a look of surprise, “That shouldn’t be possible. According to our scans you’d only finished with your ribs as of yesterday. No one cultivates that quickly.”

“Like you said,” Alex responded slowly, “It was more essence than I’ve seen in my entire life.”

“Yes, but most of it should have gone to waste. Only if your control over essence was impossibly good could you have made the progress you just described.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Alex said, “That is what happened.”

Skaya frowned, and didn’t say anything.

While he waited for direction from her on what to do next, Alex glanced down at his watch. He tilted his head, confused at what it was saying. A week had passed since his first day of conscription? By all accounts it should have only been a day. That meant he’d spent almost six days processing the energy from that meal.

“We need to go to the capital immediately,” Skaya said in a muted tone, “You’re even more valuable than I’d thought.”

“What does that mean?” Alex asked.

“I’ll explain later,” she replied, “We need to get moving. Now.”