Times passed peacefully and just about a month before his fifteenth birthday in the middle of May, Quin successfully entered the second level of Qi Condensation Sub-Stage. His qi density increased to six just after a couple of days, making it to the same value as an average man of the third level.

In June, he passed his fifteenth year of life, and then in September the school began once again. The winter came and left, giving space to the warm but rainy season of spring.

In March the annual tournament took place again, however it was not as eventful as the previous one. Mysteriously, Mang did not take part in it, so people’s expectations of watching an amazing fight like a year before were only met with disappointment. The final was decided between Alinor and Quin, but more quickly than a year ago. Quin was a stage above of Alinor, so easily overpowered him in just mere moments.

In the blink of an eye it was the day after his sixteenth birthday. This day bore a great importance in his life, as being the one on which his Ancestral Spirit would be revealed.

Though usually the students would be checked in groups, due to his extraordinary talent Quin was an exception. He could not be examined before he was past sixteen, because before that his spirit was unstable and not something that could be interacted with by any kind of methods. Why the requirement was the age of sixteen for humans nobody knew, it remained a mystery, however it was still a fact.

In the Qi Foundation Stage the most important factor was one’s element, but afterwards the type of their spirit replaces that. The students knew bits and pieces about this from Nyra’s classes, but Quin possessed a substantially bigger knowledge regarding this topic, thanks to his frequent visits to the library.

The next stage which was called Spirit Forming, would be the first great dividing line in the martial path, where many would get stuck, unable to continue. However those who succeeded, would have their longevity increased by a significant deal, from around two and a half century to four whole one. Their control over their elements would also experience a growth, as their mental energy would multiply even by the hundreds.

The process of Spirit Forming was about establishing a fake Spirit Core, which opens the possibility to start their merging with their Ancestral Spirit.

Most of the people had an Ancestral Spirit. It was said that the humans were partially the offsprings of various legendary and mythical beasts, whose essences could be still found dormant in their blood even after an unknown amount of time. With the help of the fake Spirit Core, one could slowly start to awaken this essence hidden inside them. Then they would be able to summon a powerful illusory copy of them which would aid them during fights. It was even rumored that after having a cultivation high enough one can merge with their Ancestral Spirit, turning into one of those mythical beasts himself.

There were two factors determining an Ancestor’s Spirit strength and power to the user: the race and type of the creature, naturally a Tiger Spirit would be stronger than an ordinary Rabbit Spirit; and secondly the user’s affinity to the Spirit. Clearly, the spirit of an Eyeless Flame Bear, which was of the fire element, would not fit well with a water element user and could cause remarkable instability within its user. In some extreme cases of this lack of compatibility, it brought even disastrous results, such as instant death on the attempt of summoning it or destroying one’s foundation due to opposing forces of the user and the spirit simply canceling out or destroying each other. Fortunately these kind of incidents were uncommon, only appearing a few times per millions of people.

Walking to the school morning, Quin felt a bit worried that he would not have the same luck in this matter, than with his element, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He entered a room in the basement of the main building, where Nyra, the Instructor and another man waited for him. The man looked visibly aged, his face filled with deep wrinkles and his head bald, lacking even a single breadth of hair. He wore a simple black robe, without any kind of ornament decorating it, and oddly no kind of footwear could be seen on his foot.

The old man’s eyes were covered by a piece of black cloth tied around his head, however it did not seem to obstruct his vision at all as Quin saw him walk around the room unhindered. A book was squeezed in his hands, but as soon as Quin glanced at it, he lost track of time and entered in some kind daze.

“Hey, Quin!” His instructor’s yell woke him up, and he had no idea how much time has passed or what actually happened but made a mental note to keep the book out of his sight.

“Yes, sir?” he answered.

“Go and sit cross-legged inside that area, surrounded by the pillars,” the Instructor ordered him.

Quin looked around briefly, observing the room itself. Its size was small, only about twenty-five square meters and all six walls, the top and bottom included were filled with different -- for him unknown -- symbols, glimmering in a strange dim purple light, seemingly in a random frequency. A part of the room in the middle was surrounded by translucent pillars in the shape of a square, with a triangle shaped podium emerging from its center. This was where he sat down, waiting.

He took another peek at the old man, and noticed that even his stature was hunched. Despite all of this, looking at him made him scared and not like when he he lost the fight against Mang and the Instructor was yelling at him. Not even like that time back in the first grade when he was face to face with death itself. Although the magnitude of this emotion was lower, but he felt as it was more penetrating and its intensity was higher as well. It made him feel like he had no option but submit to a superior being.

“Alright, close your eyes and empty your mind.” His thoughts were interrupted by the Instructor.

After entering a meditative stage he could hear Nyra’s calm and gentle, but also firm voice speaking to him. Although it was in a language he did not know, somehow he was still aware most of its meaning. It was guiding him, deep down into his mind and body and then... He blacked out.

“Do not worry, you will be fine.” Opening his eyes, he realized it was Nyra’s voice. “You did great, the ceremony is rarely this easy.”

I blacked out, and I’m still doing great? Really? He was quite surprised, but after his eyes quickly adjusted to the light level of the room he was even more surprised. Nyra, his teacher who was known among his classmates as the incarnation of coldness itself, due to her lack of emotions to any kind of events, who was always cold and detached, was standing in front of him looking at him and... Smiling lightly at him. There was no coldness or fakeness in her smile, it looked genuine and he had to admit that it looked beautiful.

Of course he was no fool either and only glanced at her shocked for a moment, and then sorted out his appearance, while standing up. He remembered the rumors about Nyra, and he did not dare to offend her.

“Thank you, Ma’am.” Quin nodded.

“Alright, let’s not dilly-dally!” his instructor said with great excitement. “I’ve got two pieces of good news for you! The first one is that you seemed to impress the Grand Duke!” He smirked, waiting for the news to kick in.

What? He was the Grand Duke? He could not even speak a word he was so taken aback. Looking around, he found out that the Grand Duke has already left. Shit! I’ve presumed it was just an average teacher and what’s more I think I even forgot to greet him because I was so absorbed at observing him and afterwards the room. Damn, I’m such a big fool! He was totally embarrassed now, his face painted red.

“Haha! Alright, you shouldn’t worry about that!” His instructor laughed heartily. “As I said, it looked like you had impressed him, and in a good way. Let me tell you, just like you’ve probably already suspected, that book of his is special. Sadly I can’t go into details about it but I can tell you that it can even make Qi Culmination cultivators pass out, not speaking about somebody like you, who’s only at the Qi Condensation! You realize it now don’t you?” Grinning, he looked at Quin, who nodded. “It doesn’t just mean you’re better than them, but that your mind, your mental strength is exceptional!”

Thanks to this news, Quin’s shame decreased to a bearable amount. Even if he behaved quite rude, at least he still managed to make a good impression on him.

“The next one is,” he continued. “you’ve got a spirit comparable to your lightning element! I hope you know it’s no small feat,” he said and then looked at Nyra.

“Your Ancestral Spirit is of the same lightning element as you and is one of the strongest types: a dragon. It is one of a kind, and is called Elemental Lightning Dragon!” she started explaining and during the last part, when he announced its name even her eyes lit up slightly.