“...Dino?” Niva said, aware of the fact that Dino’s mind was somewhere else. Most likely, on the nomad.

“Hm?” Dino’s body jerked a little before he turned toward Niva.

“I said that it would perhaps be better to split up right now. Unless”–Niva grinned teasingly–“you’re planning on sleeping under the same roof?”

Dino stopped in his tracks and stared at her. “Huh, I didn’t know you were capable of making jokes.”

“There is quite a lot you don’t know about me,” Niva said, pursing her lips.

“Touché. Very well, see you at the lecture.”

She nodded and took a right towards the female dorms.

Birch trees of different sizes and shapes, and even the occasional critter moved across Niva’s vision.

She could get used to this. The trees gave off a completely different vibe than the wooden barricades that littered the streets back home, although, as an afterthought, integrating with nature must pose some risks.

But suddenly, as she continued to let the impressions wash over her, she stopped. The pounding of her heart, as loud as the beating of a drum at midnight, transcended the song of birds, which had kept her company during her walk; so that instead of the loving, ambient murmur by the birds that seemed to say, “Here there is peace”, the threat of death echoed in her head.

Her eyes darting around the clearing, with every passing second feeling like the noose around her neck strung tighter, she finally saw what made her instincts scream.

The birch trees’ piercing yellow eyes, which strengthened the message her instincts conveyed to her, fixed her in place. Its mouth curved upward into what looked like a mocking smile, to reveal a row of crooked teeth.

Holding the tree's gaze for three seconds in both fear and confusion, she blinked, and in the split second that she closed her eyes, her instincts quieted down. When she regarded the tree again, all looked normal, the eyes and teeth seeming to have vanished into thin air together with the metaphorical noose around her neck.

Feeling in her legs returning, Niva fled the scene, running as if she discovered the miracle power for the first time. If she saw correctly and thus wasn't going insane like her mother, then, whatever it was, she wanted nothing to do with it.

Some time later, Niva rubbed her arms as images of teeth passed through her mind. Rather forcefully, she pushed thoughts of the monster down as she came upon the first few homes. Although she had set a quick pace, she arrived too late; they were all taken.

Let’s choose the next closest residence possible, Niva thought. She wanted one of the closest homes for a reason. The sect placed the lodgings deep into the outer ring of the sect to protect the disciples from spirit beasts that could cross the sect walls from the front. However, the spirit beasts that lived near the sect entrance didn’t bother Niva.

The beasts near the front gate of the sect were weak, which is why the Elders chose that location. Conversely, the spirit beasts further in were stronger. A sect legend even spoke of a spirit beast at the end of the range that could stand toe to toe with the Elders.

With that in mind, Niva checked many of the early homes to see if one had more room left. They were all full, though. As a result, even though she didn’t particularly hate Dino’s father, she cursed the man all the same for holding them up.

Other disciples occupied all the homes near the forepart. So, Niva left those lodgings behind and started evaluating other accommodations.

Niva went up to the door and knocked. “Excuse me, is this lodging full?” She opened the door and went inside. She wished it wasn’t. This home was the last decent-looking house left in the middle of the dormitory area. All the others had a single floor and consisted of wood instead of stone.

“There is one room left,” said a deep voice.

Niva raised her eyebrows. Ignoring the deep voice, what's going on with their accent? It sounds like a mix between west- and eastern Cellian Standard. Despite her confusion, she walked into the living room, only to come to a dead stop. Sitting on a modest chair, the nomad girl from before fiddled with a wooden talisman of sorts.

At least her origin explains the accent, Niva thought before she fixed the other girl with a stare. Her brain needed some time to choose between staying or leaving.

“Is there something wrong?” said the girl.

Niva blinked. “My apologies, your tattoos distracted me. The bedrooms are upstairs; I take it. Which one is yours?"

“They are, yes. I took the bigger room. Although, I don’t mind switching if you have something to barter with.”

Niva almost missed the tribe girl sizing her up. She made a mistake when she used the tattoos as an excuse, for she had looked the girl in the eyes the entire time.

“No need. I’m fine with the smaller room,” Niva said, thinking of how to best diffuse this situation. However, she didn’t have time, so she decided to speak the truth. “I promise you that my staring contained no ill-intent. How about we start over? Niva Asturias, I look forward to getting to know you.”

That got a visible reaction out of the tribe girl. “Asturias? I'm certain I've heard that name before..." The nomad gave her a questioning look, but Niva only smiled.

“Doesn’t matter, I guess. Tia Wilder. Nice to meet you.”

"Want to make our way to the introduction class together,” Niva asked while motioning to her bag. “After I finish settling in?"

Niva didn’t want to sleep with one eye open for the rest of the year. Thus, she moved her plan to establish friendly relationships with her roommate to the top of her to-do list.

Tia nodded her head and went back to fiddling with her talisman.

Not my smoothest moment, Niva thought as she walked upstairs to place her belongings in her new room.

Although her room was bare, its decent size still caused it to betray her expectations positively. The bedroom only contained a closet for her clothes, a wooden desk, and a bed made for one person. Which left enough space for whatever Niva wanted to place in her room. It had a window as well. However, the gates of the inner sect and what she assumed was the training field made for a lackluster view.

She placed her bag on her desk, which possessed a single drawer with a sigil on the front. It most likely needed essence to open it. Can you change the activation requirements?

As much as it interested her, she quickly left the drawer behind her since she couldn’t use it yet and unpacked her bag. After taking out some miscellaneous items, she removed the sole two objects her mother left behind for her.

The craftmanship of the locket betrayed its value. Its chain consisted of unknown gold-colored metal, and the pendant represented a wild boar that wore armor around its head and tusks. The eyes of the boar were so well-crafted that Niva believed it to be alive when she stared into them long enough. Most importantly, the pendant could open, which would reveal a scripture upon doing so. But, reading it was the last thing Niva wanted to do right now.

Regardless of her not appreciating it at all, it remained one of two keepsakes. She refused to leave it unguarded in her room if she could help it. So, she fastened it around her neck before she glanced over the title of the second item.

Only the title populated the silver cover of the book, which read: A Lunar Soul. Looking at it made choruses of hymns, and esoteric concepts flash through her mind together with a powerful impulse to burn the book. However, she pushed down on her emotions and hid the book under her bed.

After taking a deep breath, she placed the rest of what was in her bag in her closet, immediately taking out the disciple tunic she spotted. She gave it a once-over. Calling the grey-colored outfit plain was a compliment. Regardless of her misgivings, though, she changed and made her way downstairs.

Tia already stood by the door, and when she saw Niva arrive, she walked outside without saying anything.

Niva grimaced. This relationship would take some effort.

There was no time like the present, so she started a quick jog to catch up to her new roommate, and the two of them made their way over to the location that would mark the start of their cultivation journey.

Solune covered the clearing in a deep orange hue, which signaled her imminent departure out of the sky. Spitefully, Niva admitted that Luneil’s sister formed a beautiful backdrop for this critical moment in her life.

Refocusing while sitting in the lotus position in one of the many rows of students, Niva stole a glance at Elder Yonyue. He wore an oversized yellow robe that, combined with his bald head and aura of serenity, made him fit the description of those monks in tales told to young children.

Niva had been waiting on the monk's instruction for the last ten minutes, together with the other disciples. His instruction would help them feel the essence in the air around them, but all he had done was sit in front of all the students with his eyes closed. However, no one said anything, for they were afraid of getting barred from his lectures.

Another ten minutes passed before the Elder finally gave his first piece of guidance. “I won’t explain to you what essence is in this lesson. What you are here to learn is active essence gathering."

The Elder spoke without any visible effort, yet his words carried to all two hundred some disciples. "First, let me ask a question. What is a cultivator?" Elder Yonyue signaled for one of the students to answer.

“A divine being that forms the vanguard for our world.”

“Not necessarily wrong,” Elder Yonyue said. “Even though the divine part is not needed. However, I’m looking for a more sophisticated answer. One linked to cultivators themselves, and not their utilization.” He pointed towards another disciple.

“Beings that use essence to develop.”

A satisfied murmur escaped Elder Yonyue. “Correct. In short, a cultivator is a being that absorbs the ambient essence around them and uses it to develop; to make themselves stronger.”

"Naturally, then," Elder Yonyue said, "the next question you want the answer to is: what is essence?"

Multiple disciples raised their hands, but Elder Yonyue waved them away. "Many may desire that. However, the answer to that question is not of importance to us in this lecture. In fact, it is never of real importance since one can become the strongest cultivator in the Empire and not understand what essence is in the slightest. No, we need another question answered.”

How do we absorb essence? Niva thought. Her mother had stomped essence theory into her brain since she could talk. As a result, Niva knew all this by heart. However, she could only wait until someone gave the correct answer since the Elder didn't pick her.

It took three tries, but one of the disciples eventually got it right.

“Exactly,” Elder Yonyue said. “And to answer that question, we need to understand the spiritual realm. The sun will go under soon, so I’ll explain the next part quickly.

“Essence and the spiritual realm can be visualized as a vast horizontal plain with an ocean on top of it. If we imagine it like that, then the process of gathering essence becomes easier to grasp.”

Niva already knew what the Elder would say next, but she still paid attention to confirm no gaps existed in her knowledge.

“When human souls come into existence,” Elder Yonyue said, “they are born on top of the ocean inside the spiritual realm. This is possible because unless a human realizes otherwise, the ocean beneath their soul’s feet will act as concrete.”

“Logically, the soul won’t sink through solid ground. So, the first step you need to take to become a cultivator is to make your soul realize it is standing on water. After it realizes this, it will start to descend into the swathes of essence underneath it.”

A disciple raised their hand, which elicited a slight smile from Elder Yonyue. “There’s more to this story, but for now, this will be all. The essential thing to remember is that if your soul realizes it is standing on water, then essence will start to enter it.

“Now, those of you that already know how to gather essence, you may start. Everyone else, listen to me, for I will now give you the Mountain Sect Cycling Technique.”

Niva tuned out the Elder, even though it pained her to use the technique her mother taught her. She needed to clear her mind to begin using the art, so she used a trick passed down in her family. Her gaze turned slightly eastward, where Luneil rose out of the ground, and she stared at the moon as she did years ago.

A soft touch on Niva’s cheek interrupted her fixation. “Pay attention when I’m speaking to you,” her mother said with a smile that chased away the cold of night.

Purposefully widening her eyes, Niva stammered out an apology, to which her mother huffed. “Instead of pretending you're sorry, listen to what I have to say.”

“The best techniques are simple ones,” her mother said as glistening lights danced around in her hair. ”There is no need to breathe in certain patterns or take excessive breaths–”

“Stop wasting time and just tell her the damn technique,” her grandmother interrupted.

Only a sigh escaped her mother before she went on. "All you need to do is to become aware of your breathing. Do so for a prolonged time, and your body will enter a meditative state eventually. As a result, your soul will open itself up to the essence around you.”

Following her mother’s instructions, Niva closed her eyes and did exactly that.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Even after a while, nothing happened. However, if there's one thing Niva trusted, it was her mother’s teachings. So she kept watch of her breathing, and soon, a sense of tranquility overcame her, signaling the beginning of Niva’s first meditative state.

The noisy outside world disappeared, and only the prickling sensation in her nostrils caused by the passage of air remained in her mind.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

When she reached a state between awareness and sleep, a warmth started to worm its way into her body. Most of it entered through her airways. However, some of it also entered through her arms, legs, and other bodily parts. Moreover, instead of leaving after entering, the essence laid motionless inside her. Until another influx of energy pushed it deeper into her body. In this way, the process slowly repeated itself.

The speed of the procedure nagged her. Nevertheless, she decided to ignore the sensation of essence burrowing deeper in her body. Reason being that she noticed the undertaking becoming even more sluggish when she focused on it. Her mother had told her to pay attention to her breathing. So, that is what she would do.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

As her mind reached the required state of awareness again, the influx of essence returned to its original speed. It spread throughout her entire interior and, after some more time, Niva started to experience a bloated sensation.

Directly after that sensation surfaced, she heard a voice whisper in her ear. “You have finished, child.”–Niva recognized Elder Yonyue’s voice–“Congratulations on being the first one.”

Her heart skipped a beat, followed by her eyes jolting open. However, the Elder hadn’t moved from his location in front of all the disciples.

“No need to be alarmed. It is a simple trick that uses essence manipulation, which you can learn yourself if you attend my lessons.”

The Elder's soft voice helped Niva calm down, and she bowed in his direction. She looked around her and saw that all the other disciples still had their eyes closed, confirming the Elder's words.

“Behind you,” the Elder’s voice whispered in her ear again, “is a box filled with manuals of the sect on essence cultivation. Take one, go home and follow the instructions.”

It hadn’t been there when we first entered the field, Niva thought when she saw the box. She strode over as silent as possible and took out a manual.

Before she left, she cast a glance toward Dino. If she took his scrunched-up face and the sweat dripping down his forehead as an indicator, then he was currently fighting an intense battle.

That doesn’t look good.