A pure, smooth full white moon hangs suspended on the horizon, as another mysterious sphere begins to rise, opposite the first. Darkness flees from the brilliant silver light of the two sovereigns reigning over the night sky.

A small boy wearing a white, flowing Dobok dances in the lustrous moonlight, intertwined with an elderly companion, dressed in a loose, light gray gi, weaving back and forth in their battle. Astraoth, the young boy, aims his fist at Oromius' stomach, leveraging his momentum to augment his power. Oromius slides back smoothly, seizing Astraoth's hand and attempting to pull it with him as he moves backward. Astraoth, in response, shifts his weight into the hand, leaning into the grab, using the force provided by Oromius to flip over into a kick directed at Oromius' abdomen.

Letting go of Astraoth's hand, Oromius readies himself, correcting his posture, falling into form. Astraoth fully flips over with the extra momentum previously provided, abandoning his kick, and focusing on landing and form, quickly prepares himself. Adjusting his breathing, Astraoth launches into another flurry of attacks, directing four lightning-fast kicks at Oromius, each intended to hit a different target. Oromius counters, his hands turning illusory, matching each attack, blocking every kick perfectly. Astraoth, narrowing his eyes, twists his knee up, shifting his center of mass to add speed and strength to his strike. Oromius taps the knee twice as it approaches, once on its base, and once on its side, causing the trajectory of the attack to change, making it stray from its intended target. Astraoth moves with his momentum, utilizing it to transition it into a wide roundhouse kick with his other foot, speeding toward Oromius' face.

The foot is grabbed as it approaches, but, Astraoth, learning from previous mistakes, finishes the kick using his considerable momentum, and, placing his foot back on the ground, twists around moving in for a swipe with his right, trying to stay on the offensive. Oromius, after letting go of Astraoth's foot, dodges the right swipe, and, finally taking the offensive, lands a palm strike on Astraoth, pushing him backward, and, in a spiral of blue light and energy, spins around, soaring through the air into a courtyard wall.

After a painful landing, Astraoth looks up, annoyed, and complains,"Not fair Dad! You weren't supposed to use any energy!"

Oromius looks back, amused, and, helping Astraoth up, smiles and replies," I said I wouldn't use energy until you had mastered basic hand-to-hand combat."

Shocked, Astraoth adopts a look of confusion, until, understanding dawning on him, he starts shouting in excitement," I'm really done with basic combat training?" Upon hearing his father's confirmation, Astraoth continues, asking," Does that mean I can finally start learning to control energy?"

Oromius elaborates on his previous statement, saying," Well, you can't start until tomorrow, but you can -and will- start tomorrow." Going inside, the ninetieth day of training comes to a close.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meeting early the next morning, Astraoth observes the golden shine of the sun as it sweeps across the land, shielding his eyes from her intense gaze. Oromius directs his gaze toward a mountain one kilometer away and begins to talk to Astraoth,"Today, we will change up your schedule a bit. You recently have succeeded in all your exercises, so we will amp up the difficulty of the activities. You will climb a two-hundred-meter tall mountain now, with twice the weight attached." Astraoth's eyes go wide, and his face becomes drenched in a cold sweat; he begins shivering in fright. Oromius, upon noticing Astraoth's condition, smiles wide, and continues,"The lake you swim in will be changed to sub-zero temperatures and you will run twice as much with a weight four times as heavy."

After hearing this Astraoth tries to speak, but is cut off by Oromius, who resumes his explanation,"After your rest, we will begin energy manipulation practice, then proceed into combat practice, utilizing energy in battle."

Astraoth, finally finding a chance to speak, nervously asks,"B...But how will I survive if I do all that?"

Oromius reassures him,"Don't worry. I will personally make sure that you survive and also guarantee you that you will not have any permanent damage to your body."

Astraoth responds, convinced,"Okay." Calming himself, Astraoth turns to Oromius, and calmly asks,"Can I start?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astraoth sprints his forty-kilometer run, dragging a gigantic hundred-kilogram boulder behind him. His face and back are drenched in sweat, and his legs begin to numb, losing feeling from the intense exercise. Finishing up the run, he begins the swim, body freezing from the icy cold water, avoiding poisonous fish and extreme aquatic monsters laying in wait. Eventually, Astraoth finishes his required laps and starts his climb, the most difficult leg of the journey. The climb is straight up for one-half of the journey, and the last half curves backward, causing Astraoth to have to climb with his body hanging down on the curve.

Managing to finish only through a feat of willpower, Astraoth rests for a two-hour break, eating and sleeping to rejuvenate his body and mind. Happy, Astraoth thinks to himself, smiling,"Finally, the energy control training is going to start!"

Arriving at the courtyard, Astraoth stares at Oromius, excited beyond belief. Oromius waits for him to calm down then, his voice solemn and face serious, commences his explanation,"Cultivation is energy absorbed into one's body and transformed into the desired state using a cultivation technique. Depending on the technique, the energy can take form influenced by affinity or bloodline- or both. The core is the energy compressed into one's body."

"You cannot cultivate yet, but, by studying cultivation techniques, you can prepare for actual cultivation. If you absorb energy and infuse it immediately into specific parts of your body, you can strengthen attacks, and learn to manipulate and command energy. I will now show you how to do this. Watch closely."

Oromius stretches his hands slowly outward and closes his eyes, opening his consciousness to the world around him. Slowly, multicolored specks of light begin to appear and gather around his hands, swirling above his palms in an ellipse. Flipping his palms over, he releases a small burst of energy, which emanates outward in waves, creating beautiful rainbows of color.

Opening his eyes, he turns to Astraoth and begins, saying,"You will need to open your consciousness to the world, spreading out your awareness. It will be very difficult and could take days, or even weeks to achieve. Once you successfully expand your consciousness, you will need to reach out to the energy permeating the world around you. It will be difficult to gather it around your body, but especially difficult to guide into. Now, move under the artificial waterfall, and try your hand at this."