Before he could even start teaching Priya alchemy, Allen needed contribution points. It helped a little when he learned that each student started with 500, but that still left him over a thousand short for all the commissions he wanted to complete. He could have in theory just done them one at a time, but that increased the costs significantly, and he needed as much of the rewards as possible if he was going to buy the items he actually wanted in the first place. The powder he wanted to make would, if he did it properly, roughly double a persons mana intake for a short period of time. The problem was the powder tended to make the mana you gathered under its effects thinner and harder to cultivate. It was why he himself never used it. But for his fellow class mates, almost all of whom weren’t able to cultivate in the first place, it would be a useful little tool. Paired with what he could teach them about directing mana in their bodies, Allen was hopeful that a few doses of the powder would be enough to force a few of them into the novice realm. That would give them the enhanced speed and strength needed to survive the other class’s challenges. It wouldn’t work for all of them, but once the class started actually earning the points they needed to survive, Allen could spend time on a more individual basis to get those ones through the barrier. Looking at Priya, he knew she would be one of the problem cases. The powder would work for her, but she wouldn’t accept the cost. Turning into the House courtyard, Allen went straight to the training hall, pleased when he saw how they were all working. Every single student was standing alone, facing towards a single student at the front of class who was guiding them through some form of martial art. It wasn’t one Allen himself knew, but that didn’t matter. Any kind of combat training would help these people. Making eye contact with Kyle, he nodded his head to the side, calling the older student over. For some reason his face was still completely swollen, and Allen couldn’t resist asking why.

“I lost all my points, so I can’t afford a healer.” The man said tightly.

Allen frowned “Do you not know mana cycling?” seeing the confused face looking back at him. Allen cast out his spirit and found the three other students he wanted. Pointing them out, he asked Kyle to grab them and join him in the dorms. They were an interesting group. In age order, there was Kyle, the class head and fire cultivator. Next was another fourth year, Jordon Sharp. Standing at least three or four inches taller than Allen, the man was made to look even more giant by the oversized afro he wore. Given that and the numerous earings he wore on each side, it was very apparent why this man had never signed on for the guard, some people just were not designed for military discipline. The sole third year was the smallest person there, standing at maybe a little over 5 foot with a thin frame, it was hard to believe he was a cultivator at all. If it wasn’t for the low novice spirit Allen could sense, he would probably have sent the boy back to the other room. The first second year was an actual giant, in every sense of the word. Not only did Ross Mitchell tower over Allen in height, he was also substantially wider. It was only the mans height that stopped him looking fat, but the look worked. He would probably make a pretty good solider if he wanted to. That or a rugby player. The final cultivator from their class was their own female, Kerrie Hobbs was rake thin with shoulder length blonde hair and a face that hinted she might actually be pretty if she wasn’t near starving. Rounding out their group was Priya, who simply refused to leave.

“Okay we five are the only cultivators in class right now. That means I need to make sure you know enough because you will be helping me teach the others once we get them into the first ascension. So, can any of you help Kyle here heal his face?” Allen gestured to the puffy and swollen class head, slightly enjoying the scowl. Nobody spoke up so he tried again “Okay, how about this, can any of you help him to heal himself?”

For a brief second he thought an answer might be coming when Kerrie looked up for the first time, but if she did know the answer she never spoke up.

“Okay.” Allen pulled out his work knife and before anyone could stop him, slashed open the palm of his left hand. “All of you have mana, which means you can do this.” Letting go of the mana he was holding back from his injured hand, he let it flow out. His higher realm maent this technique was carried out on its own for the most part, so he had ironically been using it in reverse just to keep the wound open. The gasps as his mana started to work, knitting flesh back together, were a clear sign they hadn’t been expecting it to work. As soon as he finished he pointed at Priya

“What is cultivation?”

The woman stammered, clearly not expecting me to call on her. It was only a little bit funny.

“Anyone else?”

“Power” Ross said immediately

“Magic?” offered Jordon, although he didn’t sound as sure.

“Cultivation is the process of transcending mortality and becoming one with the universe.” Allen corrected “Each time a cultivator ascends to a new realm, their body becomes less biological and more spiritual. That is why cultivators live longer. Its why they no longer get sick, and in the higher realms, why they no longer need to eat or sleep. It is also why a cultivator, even in the first realm, can heal rapidly form minor injuries. Your body is partly mana already, so healing itself is only natural. Now you are all fire cultivators, so the healing won’t be quite as pleasant, but its still better than walking around looking like roadkill.” He gave Kyle another look, who took that as his chance to ask a question.

“How do we do it?”

“You just need to cycle your mana through the injured area, the mana will take care of any damage.” Allen offered simply. To him this was the easiest thing in the world.

The others looked confused, but Kyle raised his hands to his face andheld them against his cheek. Curious, Allen opened up his spirit and tried to feel the other mans mana as he used it. Sure enough Kyle brought it up through his arm, channeling out his hand as he would do for healing another person. It wasn’t perfect, but it did what he wanted, pushing out his hand into the bruised cheek. When he brought the hand down a few seconds later his face was still slightly bruised, but it was substantially better than it had been.

“You will get better with practise.” He knew that Kyle had only stopped because he was out of cultivated mana. Pushing him to do more now would just force him into mana starvation like Allen himself had been the day before.

He saw the others itching to try, so just gave them a nod before carrying on speaking

“This is not how you heal another person. That is a lot more complicated, especially if the person who you are healing isnt a cultivator themselves. Only use this on yourselves unless you have proper training.” He stressed the last sentence hoping to get it across.

“What can happen?” Kerrie asked, quietly but for the first time she was actually making eye contact with him

“If you aren’t careful then healing a mortal can actually kill them. Otherwise you can destroy somebodies cultivation or certainly set it back. Theres a reason not every cultivator offers healing services, and those that do often specialise in a certain things.” He cleared his throat “Practice for a while. Kyle I needed to speak with you.”

He gestured to the side and the two of them wondered over towards the far wall where they could talk. Allen immediately explained that he needed 1200 points, and why he wanted them. He didn’t name the powder he wanted to make, only that enough of it would help most of their class break through.

“And you are sure about that?” Kyle asked, somewhat sceptical

“No. Its impossible to be certain, but all of them have the potential, otherwise they would not be here. The best option would be to start them actually cultivating with a technique, but if we can’t do that.” Allen let the sentence hang.

“Okay. Leave it with me.”Kyle said, before jogging back out of the dorm room.