Chapter 6

By this point the doctor from that morning had contacted the doctors from the previous day. Most of them had decided that Eric was delusional. When they saw the new scans from that morning though they were perplexed.

Eventually the consensus was that the highest level spinal cord injury had not been a severed spinal cord. Instead swelling had mimicked the symptoms and look of a severed spinal cord. The swelling had reduced as Eric healed and therefore the new scan showed a normal spinal cord.

The only issue was Eric himself. He saw no reason to lie and continued to insist that he had healed himself. He insisted that if they wanted proof they could scan him again tomorrow. By then he would have healed the second area where his spinal cord had been severed.

It didn’t help that Eric also continued to tell the doctors that he was experiencing multiple hallucinations. Although all the doctors found it odd that despite claiming to hallucinate Eric acted relatively normal. Or at least his actions were normal. After talking to him a bit, most agreed that Eric was insane.

On the plus side that resulted in them finally delivering a multitude of pills to treat his mental disorders. Eric was practically gleeful as the nurse set down a tray with five small cups on it. Each contained different pills that he was supposed to take.

That glee quickly turned to scorn as he examined the pills. “Is this really what you treat people with? These wouldn’t even qualify as grade zero pills. They are terribly impure and are likely to cause a multitude of side effects. Some of these in combination are even potentially lethal.”

The nurse gave Eric a confused look. Even Valerie stopped cultivating and looked confused. Eric hadn’t even asked what pills he had been prescribed. “I have no idea what you are talking about sir. Grade zero pills? And what is this about them being potentially lethal?”

Eric sighed and then pointed to two different cups. “These two when combined have a small chance of resulting in a fatal heart attack. The chance increases the longer you take them. I’d estimate that for a mortal it would be a one percent chance each year. Higher if you have any issues with your heart.”

“I don’t think that’s listed as one of the drug interactions. I’ll have to consult with one of the doctors.” The nurse said and then started to take the tray away.

Eric quickly reached out and stopped her. He then grabbed four of the cups and the glass of water. After taking each of the pills he set all the cups back on the tray. “I should be able to minimize the other side effects. I’d like to see what alternatives are available for that last pill though.” The nurse shrugged and then exited the room.

“How did you do that?” Valerie asked with a frown.

“Do what?” Eric asked. He was actually a bit confused.

“How could you tell what those pills would do and how they interact?” Valerie asked.

“I’ve been a cultivator for longer than you can imagine. During that time I spent a few thousand years studying alchemy. Enough time that I can use just a trace of energy to tell the ingredients of any pill. I also know exactly how those ingredients interact. A very useful skill for an emperor. It saved me from more than one attempted poisoning.” Eric explained.

“Don’t alchemists create potions and not pills?” Nicole asked.

“It’s possible to create potions. Solid products are preferred because they last longer than liquid products. So most alchemists concentrate on pills. Potions and other liquid products are only created if the product is going to be used quickly.” Eric explained.

“Do you really think you can make better pills?” Valerie asked.

Eric thought about that question. “I probably will at some point. Although I didn’t spend much time actually making pills. I had an entire building full of master alchemists that would make anything I requested. First I’ll have to gather the ingredients and necessary tools. I’ll also need to finish that array if I want to make something better than grade zero pills.” Eric said.

“You have mentioned grade zero pills a number of times now. What does that mean?” Valerie asked.

“It’s a classification of quality for cultivation products. Items are graded one through ten. Saying that a product is grade zero means that it contains no energy. It’s meant for mortals instead of cultivators.” Eric explained.

“I think I’m starting to understand. Since we are in a null area any energy in a cultivation product would dissipate. Meaning that it’s impossible to make anything above grade zero. But your array is supposed to keep energy inside and prevent the items from losing their energy?” The last part was more of a question instead of a statement.

“That is correct. Unfortunately it also means that anything taken outside the array will also lose its energy. So it’s pointless to make anything we won’t be using inside the array.” Eric stated.

“What’s the point of the array then?” Nicole asked.

“It will help you maintain your cultivation level. If you spend half the day inside the array then you will only need to cultivate half as much. Although you will still bleed off a tiny bit of energy. But that will increase the energy density inside the array and make it easier to cultivate. Plus it will allow me to make some cultivation items that will help both of you cultivate faster.” Eric explained.

“There is something I’ve been wondering. Where does all of that energy go? Surely it doesn’t just disappear?” Valerie asked.

Eric shrugged. “I never studied null worlds enough to know for sure. There are only a few things I know for sure. First, flooding a null world with enough energy has a chance of making it normal. Second, not all null worlds are the same. There are a number of rumors. Some say that null worlds are filled with negative energy that interacts with cultivators energy. Other’s say that there are invisible holes in the area that attract energy and funnel it elsewhere. I could tell you a dozen different theories.”

“So if we cultivate for long enough eventually Earth may no longer be a null world?” Nicole asked.

Eric couldn’t help but grin at the idea. “It takes massive amounts of energy to try to change null worlds. Even if we cultivated for the next million years it would be like trying to empty the ocean with a teacup. Usually it’s only attempted by immortal and divine cultivators. And that is assuming that this is a null world and not a null plane. It’s very likely that we are on a null plane.”

‘What if we got everyone on Earth to cultivate?” Valerie asked.

Eric shook his head. “What incentive would they have for doing that?”

“You said that cultivators live longer. They are also stronger. There are lots of people that exercise every day. This would be similar.” Nicole stated.

“For the average person they will only reach the first level of journeyman. That would maybe add a tenth of a year to their life. They would be a little bit stronger but as you mentioned yesterday they could also just lift weights. Plus someone would have to teach them how to cultivate. Even if all those obstacles were overcome and they had a reason to cultivate it still wouldn’t make a difference if this is a null plane. Instead of filling the ocean it would be like trying to fill the entire universe.” Eric said.

“I still think people would be interested.” Nicole said.

Eric shrugged. “Even if they were interested, who is going to train them? It isn’t easy to teach someone how to cultivate. If you want you can always try at some point. It’s not like it will hurt anything. Eventually you will probably want to learn how to train people anyway. Just expect that it will be far more difficult than you imagine.”

“Why would it be so hard to train other people? What you have taught us so far doesn’t seem too complicated.” Valerie asked.

“Cultivation is as varied as people are. There are some commonalities but there is also a great deal of variance. I’ve tailored what I’ve taught the two of you. I’ve also only corrected the mistakes you actually made. I haven’t gone into any details on the mistakes you could have made. And you have only barely started cultivating. To put things in perspective you have both only finished a day and a half of kindergarten. There is still a lot to learn. Then again it’s not like you need to teach anyone past the journeyman levels. They aren’t going to be able to exceed them anyway.” Eric explained.

“I’d like to try to teach some people later. I’ll have to master the journeyman levels first though. Let’s get back to cultivating.” Nicole said.

Eric was a bit surprised and pleased when both Valerie and Nicole started cultivating again. Most new cultivators disliked spending more than an hour or two each day cultivating. It created bad habits. Serious cultivators needed to spend large chunks of time cultivating.

At least that was the case when you had a knowledgeable teacher like Eric. Many cultivators needed to gain experience and enlightenment to breakthrough into a higher realm. Eric was also confident that his training regime would help cover Nicole and Valerie’s lack of combat experience. They would still need some experience but it could wait until they got off Earth. There weren’t monsters or other cultivators for them to fight on Earth.

Eric settled back into his routine. Healing himself as he kept an eye on Nicole and Valerie as they cultivated. He was having to intervene less and less. At the current rate in a week or two he would be able to let them cultivate alone. He’d just have to check occasionally and make sure they weren’t deviating and help them with breakthroughs.

Things settled into a routine for the next couple days. The doctor’s found Eric an alternative pill that wasn’t potentially deadly. Although in Eric’s mind the quality was still just as subpar as the rest of the pills.

On the third day of cultivating Nicole and Valerie had broken into the first level of the apprentice realm. Eric was neither impressed nor disappointed in their progress. He had never taught a student in what was widely referred to as the mortal realms.

According to the records he had read, many cultivators were faster than Nicole and Valerie. Then again they had also grown up in a society filled with cultivators. Nicole and Valerie were having to learn from scratch. Under the current circumstances Eric was doubtful that most cultivators could do better.

The morning of the second day Eric managed to repair the second break in his spinal cord. The doctors didn’t notice though. They hadn’t done another scan and Eric hadn’t experienced a notable change in mobility. By the evening he had repaired the third break. That meant he could move most of his body except for his legs.

Eric decided not to call any attention to the change though. Even if he could move more he didn’t particularly care to. He was still covered in other injuries. Moving was painful. Although he had healed them enough that careful movement wouldn’t make his injuries worse.

There was one unfortunate side effect of healing his spinal cord. So far he had been numb below where his spinal cord was severed. Now that it was healed he felt the pain of far more injuries. Although in Eric’s case his pain tolerance was so high that a broken bone felt like a minor annoyance instead of a serious injury.

He could have used a bit of energy to block the pain. Or requested additional pain medicine. The energy was better spent on healing though. As for the pain medication Eric wasn’t willing to spend time finding something that wouldn’t interact with one of the other medications he was already taking.

Everything changed on the third day that Nicole and Valerie were cultivating. They were close to breaking through into the second level of the apprentice realm. Meanwhile Eric had just finished healing the final point where his spine had been severed. Which meant his energy was now being directed to healing all his other injuries.

That was when detective Hill burst into the room followed by five other police officers. “John Ralston. You are under arrest for the murder of Lawrence Derringer.” He said with a wide grin.