“Adam, my boy, I hear you’ve been humming to yourself again. Be careful or everyone will think you’re going crazy unless you are crazy, then do as you wish.” Andrew chuckles at his own joke.

“Jess, you can leave now. It is time for me to start young Adam here on his history lesson. Make sure he comes here every day at this time for his lessons. It is time he learns about the outside worlds” Andrew explains.

“Okay Grandpa, will do,” Jess says as she walks out the door.

I have only been in the old man’s study a few times. For a priest he does seem to have a lot of stuff - I always thought churches were meant to be empty, undecorated spaces, but he has a solid oak desk with golden woven curtains covering the double doors that lead to the balcony. As I look around the room, I hear a loud clap that makes me jump and focus back on Andrew.

“I swear you have the attention span of a 5-year-old! Oh, you are 5,” he chuckled, “anyway, let us begin. I am going to cover this town, the nearest city, the continent as a whole, and the 3 main factions. So, this town is called Meadow Centre. A town is classified as 5,000 or more people living in an area, plus a blacksmith, tailor, Medica, town hall, and a church. We have all those and a few extra shops here and there. A town is managed by a cultivator over the age of 30 that is still in the KI stage. Our town lord is, believe it or not, me. I am a priest first, but after a beast horde attacked 5 years ago, no one has come and replaced the old lord. Since I am a KI refiner of the first stage, I qualify, though not by much, so the town people voted me in.” He momentarily pauses.

“Hold your questions ‘till the end! I can see you’re going to burst!” He shouts, then resumes the lesson, “the closest city is called Lightridge. Cities have the same requirements as towns but with much higher populations. They also have more cultivators running around, so they can be a dangerous place. I have only been to a city once before, so I can not tell you much, but I do know that a city lord has at least reached the core refiner stage. The continent we are on is called Flatedge; one side borders the sea while the other hangs over a ledge so steep you can not see the bottom at all. The people are split into 3 factions: the light sects, the dark sects, and the neutral sects. I do not like to give the titles good and evil to light nor dark, as a dark assassin killing a cruel city lord could be called justice. All I am saying is that light sects plot to kill, while the dark sects kill openly or in the shadows, but their motives never come down to politics. Neutral sects have a bit of everything, though when the light and dark go to war they stay out of it. No one pushes the neutral sect as they are the balance of this world. Now to my area of expertise: churches. You might find this funny but only 2 of the stages of cultivation are known to us. The 3rd is blurry at best, yet everyone knows how to ascend to become an immortal. The answer is to make churches and mortals believe in you, in the soul, and in your heart. The faith builds up ‘till they can ascend. This is why churches are so respected - because each one has backing from a different immortal. Even if an immortal dies, no mortal will dare touch a church.

Did you know that when I was 10, I wanted to become a cultivator so badly, but when I got tested, I couldn’t even form a core? I was so depressed that I came here to this very church and prayed. The old priest here saw me and told me that there would always be a way if you tried hard enough. He then asked if I wanted to become a brother here, and since I now had nothing else to do, I agreed. It was only after 10 years that I finally passed the test, believe it or not. Regardless, since a brother and priest have to be cultivators to spread the faith, we get some cool little abilities from our immortal king. The people call these miracles, but the truth is that they’re advanced techniques where god uses his sense as fuel instead of our bodies and KI.”

That’s it. Oh my god, this is how I can form my core early.

System Quest

Complete Brother training in 4 years.

Rewards: Form core before 10th birthday and immortal king abilities (assumed to be weakened).

Failure: Unknown.

Damn, another stupid quest! At least this goes along with my plans. I look at the old man dead in the eyes and determinedly say:

“Make me a brother in 4 years! Please.”

Andrew’s look-of-shock even surprises me.

“You want to be a brother before your 9th birthday? You must be joking! It took me 10 years of full effort, when I was old enough, to comprehend these lessons! You are 5 years old! You'll struggle to even pass the physical, and that’s the easy part!” he explains with a patronizing gaze.

“Old man, I mean grandpa, I am smarter than any 5-year old. Please, please! Let’s do this. I won't let you down. Imagine being able to say that you trained the youngest brother in history!” I plead.

I see his eyes go wide with the thought of praise and glory.

“Fine. But, you will be treated like anyone else. You will be doing body training 5-10am, lessons 11- 5 pm, and spiritual guidance till midnight. You'll get 5 hours of sleep a night, and that is it. Don’t let me down, as I can't promise you’ll survive the test” he explains with worry in his eyes.

System Notice

Holy guidance: an immortal has helped you, please remember that favours must be paid back.