In the world of cultivation Martial Arts are not merely fighting techniques but a method of controlling one’s growth. Vigorous exercise damages the muscles and allows the Mana that we use to rebuild them stronger than if we only cultivated. Higher Ranked Martial Arts that use Mana provide the best effect but are the most difficult to learn and require a stronger body meaning you first have to work up to them by strengthening your body with lower Ranked Martial Arts.

-Excerpt from Telram’s notes on Martial Arts

“Well you see Telram, your mother was working on a badly damaged cultivation technique that some of the lord’s guardsmen had found in a ruin they had found. This was one of the most powerful cultivation techniques that had been found in recent years and Lord Irian insisted on it being restored by any means necessary,” Gerry said.

Lord Irian was the City Lord, a powerful cultivator in his own right and had full power over both the city guards and the scholars who worked for him. Like many feudal lords back on earth he used his power to put his family members and supporters in positions where they could benefit him most. Gerry was one of the old-guard who had served his father which explained why he had been replaced as soon as he stopped listening to Irian’s orders. Like most city lords, Irian had a fascination with the ancient ruins that dotted the landscape of Nerrus and sent his guards out to search them for relics and martial techniques left behind by the people who lived on Nerrus before.

Telram’s expression hardened, he could already see where this story was going.

“Your mother had been putting off getting a new cultivation technique because she wasn’t interested in the ones which were compatible with her. Which is why she was put in charge of this project, Irian ordered her to test the cultivation technique on herself before she felt it was ready to use and the result was that her core warped and cracked causing large amounts of Mana to flow into her body. We patched her core up as best we could, but Lily’s internal organs were so badly damaged that she can no longer cultivate, and some Mana is still leaking out into her body which is why her condition is worsening. I was trying to find a solution to the problem and Irian claimed that I was wasting resources and replaced me with his cousin Pavel.”

The aura once again flared outwards from the boy, Gerry flinched but he had been expecting it this time and had already erected defences. Telram screamed in rage, and the aura of bloodlust slowly faded as he regained control.

Panting Telram looked at Gerry with bloodshot eyes. A technique that could repair Mana Cores and cure Mana Poisoning, which was the name of the condition that Lily had could save the lives of countless promising cultivators but apparently that wasn’t good enough for the power-hungry Irian.

“So, what you are saying, is that because Lord Irian wanted to get a new cultivation technique to add to his collection, my mother had to cripple herself,” he growled. “Tell me Gerry, what exactly does ‘Lord Irian’ think a human’s life is worth?”

Though Telram had indeed managed to control the aura of bloodlust that had been leaking out through his Soul Energy Gerry could still see the rage burning behind his eyes.

Gerry shivered form the icy feeling that ran down his back as he looked at Telram, “A commoner’s life matters about as much to him as that of a cow or pig, if they aren’t useful or a member of his family, he doesn’t care what happens to them.”

Telram closed his eyes and breathed deeply, this was pretty much what he had expected, but it didn’t make it any less disappointing, some things never changed even in worlds where people could live for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Once he was sure he could remain calm he opened his eyes to see Gerry looking at him worriedly, “Sorry about that Gerry, I didn’t realise that would happen.”

Gerry nodded his acceptance of Telram’s apology, most cultivators didn’t have powerful enough Soul Energy to do what Telram had done until they had completely condensed their Mana Core and become Ascended Realm cultivators so the manual that he had given Lily didn’t have that information in it. That Telram was able to use a technique like that, even if it was incomplete and sloppy spoke to the power of his Soul.

“Don’t worry about it kid there was no way you could have known that you could do that. Even I didn’t think you could do that until now and I can use a skill that allows me to sense how powerful someone’s Soul Energy is,” Gerry said to reassure the boy but was surprised when the boy looked up excitedly.

“Can you teach me!?”

Gerry stood there gaping at Telram for a few moments before bursting into laughter, of course he picks now to start acting like a child again.

“Yes, yes of course,” Gerry chuckled happy to see the boy acting like the child he was again. “But first we should get on with condensing your Mana Core. You know how of course?”

“Yes, for the first layer you compress half of your Mana Cloud down while infusing it with your Soul Energy and wrap it around the rest of your Mana Cloud,” Telram said. He technique took up a large part of the cultivation manual that Gerry had sent him so naturally Telram had taken the technique apart and put it back together in a way that was easier to understand, this might cause some problems for him at first as he had yet to test the technique out, so there was a possibility that he left out some information that he needed because he thought it was superfluous but he had learned it.

The Core Formation Stage has nine ‘layers’ when a cultivator forms the first layer of their Mana Core they enter the first Layer of the Core Formation Stage after which they must absorb more Mana into their Core and condense it again to form the next layer until the Core has nine layers made up of a combination of the cultivators Soul Energy and Mana, to enter the Ascendant Realm they must condense one final layer around their Core.

Once one has condensed the first layer of their Mana Core they will find that the core itself is much larger on the inside and they must fill it completely with Mana before condensing the next layer. At this stage the Mana Core can contain at least twice the amount of Mana that their body could previously handle and that amount doubles again with each successive layer.

“Right, now I want you to condense the Mana down with your Soul Energy as far as you possibly can before forming the first layer of your core, it should give you a corresponding increase in Mana capacity,” Gerry said, he knew that with Telram’s powerful Soul Energy the Mana Core would be able to contain far more Mana than other cultivators of a similar level, this would slow down Telram’s cultivation a lot due to him having to absorb a lot more Mana to fill up his Core but the benefits should outweigh the drawbacks.

Telram nodded and sat down closing his eyes as he started meditating, soon his breathing steadied, and his consciousness entered the area where his Mana Cloud was. His Inner Vision technique had improved to the point where he could now form a vague spiritual ‘body,’ this allowed him superior control over his cultivation technique allowing him to absorb Mana faster and control it better meaning that less had been lost along the way than most people at his level, which had in turn meant that he had more Mana in his body.

Mentally reaching out he split his Mana Cloud in two and started to refine it with his Soul Energy, infusing as much as he could. He frowned slightly, it looked like this was going to take even longer than he had thought.

Gerry watched the boy begin to refine the first layer of his Mana with his Spiritual Sight; the technique that allowed someone to view both another beings Soul Energy as well as their Mana Core that Telram had wanted to learn.

“Impressive control, he’s almost mastered the Inner Vision technique, just a little more and he will have a true spiritual presence,” Gerry murmured. Even he had taken years to reach a similar level to what Telram was already at after only a few months which filled him with both a sense of pride and worry. If Telram was as bog a genius as he seemed it would make it harder for him to avoid the attention of Lord Irian.

“Well I should let Lily know what’s happening, I’d hate for her to worry when Telram doesn’t come home tonight,” he sighed going into his house and grabbing a strange sheet of paper that had one side covered with strange markings. He quickly wrote down what was happening and channelled a bit of Mana into the paper which twitched before folding itself into a bird and flying away.

The paper had what was known as an inscription on it, much like the puppets he had been training with earlier but far simpler, requiring the correct pattern to be drawn onto the paper with ink infused with a crushed beast core. These types of inscribed items were known as talismans and could be used for many purposes such as the low levelled Messenger Bird he had used to ones containing powerful Mana based attacks however unlike the puppets that he made they could only be used once before they ran out of power. Gerry wasn’t much of a talisman maker himself, but he knew how to make some basic ones.

Gerry specialised in making things like the puppets from earlier. Inscribed items could come in many forms from powerful weapons to flying ships, though things as large as flying ships were rare as they required large amounts of high end materials and many Beast Cores to make, most were artefacts that had been found in ancient ruin due to the immense cost to make something like that as well as the level of skill required. As far as Gerry was aware there were maybe three people in the whole world capable of making something that complicated.

After thinking about it for a while Gerry got up and walked over towards a small chest and opened it, inside were what appeared to be several small crystals, these crystals were in fact Beast Core, Gerry picked out a core and wandered back outside to where Telram was still trying to form the first layer of his Mana Core he sat down next to the boy and inserted his Soul Energy into the Beast Core forming a spiritual body that was identical to his own inside the empty crystalline structure, this was the advanced version of the same technique that Telram was using. Concentrating Gerry started to carve an inscription into the core’s inner wall. Gerry was making a training puppet for Telram to use once he had finished forming the first layer of his Mana Core which would allow him to fight at a much higher level than he could previously. Gerry had decided to inscribe it with the same Solid Fist Martial Art that Telram knew for the moment and limit the Core’s power to the equivalent of the First Layer of the Core Formation Stage for now. The Core itself came from an Elemental Mana Beast of the fifth Rank so the Core would last Telram a good while before he outgrew it at which time, he could simply replace it with a Core from a more powerful Mana Beast if he wished.

Meanwhile sweat was running down Telram’s brow as he continued to refine the Mana, he guessed that he was maybe a quarter of the way done, the refined Mana was starting to become thick and more difficult to control with his Soul Energy. The Mana that had been left behind in his Mana Cloud was leaking out into his body faster than ever due to his inability to retain the firm grip he had on it previously, this was causing him more than a little discomfort, but he knew he couldn’t stop now. If he did, he would end up in an even worse state than the one his mother was in and probably die as the Mana destroyed his internal organs.

It was dark outside by the time Gerry had finished inscribing the Beast Core and he looked sideways at Telram who was still refining his Mana Core. Gerry quickly checked his progress and nodded to himself, Telram was entering the final part of the process, he should be done in less than an hour.

Gerry stood up and glanced down in surprise as something that he hadn’t even noticed was there fell from his lap, reaching down he picked up the now lifeless messenger bird and unfolded it. He smiled, it was Lily’s reply; it seemed that she had predicted this would be happening and wished Telram the best. Bending down Gerry placed the letter next to the boy and walked inside to start making dinner the boy would be hungry when he finally finished but his body probably wouldn’t be able to handle anything too hearty after the trial it had endured.

Not long after Telram opened his eyes, a massive grin appearing on his face as his body relaxed for the first time in what felt like a month, he had finally finished forming his Mana Core. He swayed slightly as he stood up, that much time using his Soul Energy had left him mentally exhausted. Shaking his head to clear some of the cobwebs he reached down and picked up the piece of paper that Gerry had left next to him and walked inside.

A smile broke over his face as he read his mother’s letter, but this soon changed as he smelt the food that Gerry was cooking, practically drooling he followed his nose to the kitchen where Gerry waited for him.

“Congratulations on advancing to the Core Formation Stage Telram!” Gerry laughed seeing the look on the boy’s face. “I’ve made a light meal for you to eat and then you should head off to bed. You’ve used up a lot of Soul Energy and you need a good night’s sleep to recover. Now sit down and eat.”

Telram thanked Gerry and quickly sat down at the table. Gerry filled two bowls with the soup he had been making and placed one in front of Telram before grabbing a piece of the crusty bread he had set on the table earlier.

Gerry grinned as Telram devoured his soup and bread, the soup contained medicinal herbs that helped people to relax and restore their Soul Energy, so he knew that Telram would sleep well tonight and be wide awake the next day, his Soul Energy restored, and his body cleared of most of the Mana that had been damaging it.

Once he had filled his stomach Telram asked to send a messenger bird to his parents to let them know that he had successfully managed to form the first layer of his Mana Core. Gerry grinned at this and pointed at the sheet of paper he had prepared for this exact purpose earlier sitting on the bench next to him.

Telram got up and walked over to it and was pleased to see that it was what he had asked for and took it and the writing tools on offer to quickly write his message and as the paper bird flew off in the direction of his house he turned back to Gerry.

“I could really use some sleep Gerry,” he said.

“Well that’s the understatement of the year,” laughed Gerry who remembered how he had felt after forming the first layer of his own Mana Core. “I’m amazed you haven’t just collapsed to be honest, I’ll show you to your room, we’ll talk some more in the morning.”

Later that night after Telram had drifted off to sleep he started dreaming. In the dream he was back in his old body and working a late night with one of his old friends from university, they had been lucky enough to get placed with a well-known archaeologist who had recently found a strange artefact at a dig in northern China.

The two had been asked by the professor to run some extra tests on the artefact while he was away trying to get grant money to go back and see if he could find any similar artefacts at the dig-site, the two were hopeful that if the professor succeeded he would take them with him.

“What do you think it is anyway man?” asked his friend. Telram glanced sideways at the skinny young man standing next to him.

“Other than a piece of rock with strange symbols carved into it?” Telram asked rhetorically causing his friend to roll his eyes at him. “No, not really Tim.”

“I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s a really nice piece of carved stone, but other than that…” Telram let the thought trail off as he stared at the strange artefact in front of them.

“I know right?” Tim grumbled mysteries like this had always been something that bothered him, so it was really frustrating that after months of study they weren’t any closer to figuring out what this was. “I mean it’s weird but other than that it just seems like a normal piece of carved stone, if the symbols were a language that anyone recognised it probably wouldn’t even be worth a second look, but no one has the slightest clue as to what it is…”

Tim paused after this as his face twisted into a confused frown. “Wait what’s that sound?”

Telram cocked his head as well, it sounded like someone else had entered the lab that the two were working in, but the professor was the only other person with access, so what was going on?

“Hello boys,” the two jumped at the sound of a man’s voice and turned around.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Telram asked. “This is a secure lab.”

This lab should have been completely secure requiring someone to know two separate codes and pass a retina scan to enter, so there shouldn’t have been any way for someone who wasn’t involved with the project to get in without raising the alarm which was worryingly silent.

“I’ve been sent here by my employer,” the non-descript man replied smoothing imaginary wrinkles out of his grey suit the tone that he was using sending chills down the spines of the two young men. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to take that artefact off of your hands.”

Telram glanced sideways at his friend who was glaring at the intruder. Tim had a dangerous tendency to fly off the handle when things didn’t go his way and Telram was worried that if he exploded right now the man standing in front of them would kill them without even blinking an eye.

“You need to leave now!” Tim shouted.

Well… so much for that then.

“No, you should leave now, before I have to hurt you,” the man replied in the same bone-chilling tone of voice he had been using the entire time.

“There’s no way we’re letting you take this stone! This was discovered by the professor, he gets to decide what to do with it and I’m sure that he won’t just be giving it away to some random man,” Tim replied clenching his fists.

The man’s face twitched at being referred to as a ‘random man’ not that there was much he could do to deny it without causing problems for his employer.

“Oh, is that so?” he asked reaching into his suit and pulling out a silenced pistol.

Tim’s face paled as he realised that he should have known that it was likely the intruder had a gun, but he wasn’t expecting him to be so quick to use it…

“Tim, it’s not worth it let’s just let him take it,” Telram said shaking his head, it would be difficult for the man to get away from here with the stone tablet, even though it was small enough to carry so there was no reason for them to risk their lives. They could just rely on the security guards to stop him when he left.

The intruder shook his head, “Sorry boys but we’re out of time.”

The man suddenly raised his weapon and fired it at Tim, the silencer muffled most of the noise, but it was still loud in the enclosed room as Telram watched in horror as two red marks appeared on his friend’s chest before he collapsed in a boneless heap.

“Tim!” He shouted and turned to glare at the man who stood there calmly watching his reaction.

“Alright, you’re going to help me with that stone tablet,” the man said gesturing at the item with his gun, causing Telram to flinch.

“And why would I do that? There’s no way I’m getting out of this alive,” he snarled. This arsehole had just killed his friend so there was no way that he was going to do anything to help him.

“Your friend over there died pretty painlessly and if you do as I say, so will you,” the intruder threatened in that same emotionless tone he had been using from the moment he had entered the room as though he hadn’t just killed someone.

Telram glared at him for a few seconds before walking over to where the stone tablet was lying, making the man relax slightly as he assumed that Telram was just going to do as he was told. But instead of picking up the small stone tablet Telram quickly hit a small button on the wall next to it before turning and charging at the intruder as an alarm started ringing. The intruder swore loudly and raised his gun firing multiple times, sending blood spraying backwards onto the precious stone tablet he had been sent to collect. As the light in Telram’s eyes faded he smirked at the angry face of the intruder, with the amount of racket that they had made it wasn’t going to be easy for him to get away if not outright impossible.

“You little shit! What have you done!?” the man snarled raising pointing his gun at the young man’s smiling face and firing one final time.