When John awoke, the cave was dark. That was what his mind said it must be, but he could see into the furthest corner… despite there being no source of light. Just in case, he checked himself. Clearly, no light was coming from him. In fact, he could sense it would be quite the opposite. Inside his meridians… once more and for the first time ever… flowed spiritual energy with an attribute of darkness. However strange it was, the unpleasant aspects of it were actually muted. It was chill, but not freezing. Dark… but the comforting sort that brought about sleep. Not the sort of darkness that concealed things. Not from him. Not anymore.

“Well.” John stood up. He was a bit shaky, but in a good way. As if he had just run a marathon. It was unpleasant, but he felt like he would be better after he recovered. “I guess it worked.” He bowed into the darkness, though he was nearly certain the guardian beast couldn’t see him. “Thank you for your blessing.” John thought for a second. “Would it be inappropriate to ask for your name?”

There was a cackling, echoing from the far ends of the caves and from inside of him at the same time. “Last time… he didn’t even think about it. I think I will decline to tell you my name at this time… but you may come to know it in the future.”

John nodded, still unsure if he could be seen, and made his way back outside where his family waited. Fortkran’s family? Whatever. The prominent members of the Tenebach clan… plus one other. He bowed respectfully upon seeing them. “The guardian beast has seen fit to bless me. I hope that you now believe my words are true.”

His grandfather, Luctus Tenebach, stepped forward. A hand was placed on his head, and he felt his internal darkness being pulled on… just slightly called to by the energy inside the powerful figure in front of him. As the powers touched, they recognized each other, though one was old and one was new. There was a sigh, and then he spoke. “I have no idea who you are, but you have to be better than him.” He was taller than John, enough to be extra intimidating as his face became close, “You will be better than him, won’t you? It seems you know how to behave, but we need you to keep it up.”

“I can!” John held up his hands, “I might uh… not know everything I should do… but I can learn.”

His parents stepped forward next. “You’re really someone else?” His father looked over him. “It’s hard to believe. But we talked to the servants… you’re clearly not the same. Good. Welcome to the family.”

His fiancee Matayal stepped forward and held out her hand. Almost by instinct he took it and kissed it. He felt her almost pull back, but she let him. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have made the wrong move. John smiled awkwardly. “Technically we haven’t met before.” He looked at everyone. “I will be happy to be part of the family.”

-----

Fortkran’s positive feelings for his own family had been… somewhat limited. However, even though he didn’t take note of them John was able to recall memories that showed them in a better light. Though he’d been chastised many times it had always been for things he deserved. They’d just been trying to make him better. He hadn’t been able to see that.

John wasn’t that much older than him, but he was more experienced with the world. Maybe that just meant he’d made his mistakes and faced hardship earlier, but he found himself growing closer to his new family. It wasn’t quick, but he grew closer to them every time they interacted. He still thought about his family on Earth, but there was no way to get back to them.

He explained some details of who he formerly was to his family. They found it strange, but it seemed there was some precedent for those claiming to be from other worlds. It was extremely rare, but then again a cultivation clan was more likely to encounter oddities.

John found himself with new responsibilities… which were just old responsibilities he hadn’t really been taking care of. The basic summary of them was just to not screw anything up. Don’t make the clan look bad. Also, he was supposed to cultivate properly.

He had no problem with that, because he was aware he couldn’t do much in the new world if he didn’t. It was actually quite easy, because he had the direct guidance of his grandfather. There was a large amount of information about later phases he wasn’t prepared to make use of yet, but it was good to know where he was aiming, and to talk to someone with actual experience. Fortkran had received some guidance, but apparently he was unpleasant enough to teach that it had been cut off. John had those memories, but Fortkran had just assumed he had learned what he needed to- even with no evidence to support that.

His current ability to cultivate was still limited, even after the blessing. He hadn’t yet formed a connection to any spiritual totem, so he was mostly filled with undirected spiritual energy. Not completely undirected, but it was surprisingly less darkness focused than he thought it would be.

Taking his time to get a proper spiritual totem was wise, and even encouraged. The higher layer of spiritual totem he could connect to the better. It wasn’t related to his cultivation power directly, but instead his ability to sense them as well as to resist the pressure of the higher levels. It was more related to the purity of his spiritual energy and the meridians that the spiritual energy flowed through. Immediately after the blessing he’d been able to stay in the second layer of spiritual totems for longer, and the more he cultivated and recovered his meridians the more he would be able to do. Soon enough, he might take a step into the third layer of spiritual totems, but he wasn’t sure if he could go beyond there. Eventually he would have to pick a totem to allow his cultivation to truly progress.

-----

John found himself once again in the sea of spiritual totems. It was often called a sea, anyway. It didn’t really matter what it was called, though. The point was, spiritual totems could be connected to a cultivator in that place that was not a place. Theoretically all cultivators had access to every totem, though confirming that completely was impossible. Regardless, John browsed through them. The space between them was nothing, but traversing it could take time. He had to move himself carefully to stop and see each totem as he passed it. There were at least hundreds on each layer, though he was more easily able to approach some of them.

He now once again had his affinity for darkness. Thinking of Fortkran as someone else was more correct, but all those memories and the body were his now. Nobody was around to voice a complaint. So his affinity for darkness let him more easily approach anything that shared that element. However, any of the basic elements were within possibility. He wasn’t sure if he would want to connect to an air or fire totem, and certainly light would be out of the question… but water or earth were associated with darkness. Since he resided in Marble County which was part of the Stone Conglomerate, he had more access to cultivation techniques that fit along the lines of earth. The Tenebach clan had at least basic cultivation methods for any element, but more for darkness and aligned elements given their affinities and just what they could get their hands on.

He didn’t have to pick darkness, but it would be the easiest. However, that wasn’t always the best in the long run. He now had an affinity for darkness, but was his mental affinity appropriate for that? Would he learn it well? That was impossible to say in the long run.

Spiritual Totems were catalogued as well as possible in the library. He could research which ones he might like to form a connection to there more easily… since he was limited in the time he could be in the spiritual sea. But experiencing them firsthand was better when he could. Even without forming a connection, he could get a sense for how a particular totem worked. Its elements, strengths and weaknesses, and its potential.

But much of that seemed to be based on the layer. It seemed almost pointless to even bother looking at those on the first layer, but at least it got him used to the pressure so he could take a look around the second layer. He was eyeing a few things. He hoped to reach the third layer soon. He knew he would definitely not be choosing the Claws of Darkness again- not because they were a poor choice, but he didn’t want to make the same choice. He liked one he found on the second layer. It had a sense of subtlety, a person darting between shadows and striking suddenly. He thought it was called The Dancing Shadow or something. That said, something from the third layer would probably be better. But first he had to keep making the attempts to get himself used to the pressure and tempering his meridians to be as strong as they could to support him.