7 Grunt realm

Kane felt a burning sensation flow through his throat and into his stomach. His stomach began to heat up and the pain also began to get unbearable. He couldn't help but let out a stifled groan as he remembered his master's warning.

After a while, the burning sensation spread throughout his body. His skin became faint red in color and steam began to rise from his body. "mnnnnn" Kane couldn't help it and gave out a low grunt. Blood dripped out from his teeth as he was gnashing his teeth so hard he was destroying his gums.

The heat invaded every single cell in his body while strengthening them. Fifteen minutes later the heat ravaging his body converged to the midpoint of his chest and raged on for a while.

Kane was about to lose consciousness when the heat in his chest suddenly dispersed and was replaced by a cool and soothing feeling which spread throughout his entire body. His tense muscles began to relax under the soothing feeling. He collapsed onto the ground drenched in sweat and gasping for air.

When he could finally walk, he decided to clean himself up before meeting his master. He arrived on the first floor he saw his master in the kitchen as he was setting up lunch.

"Congratulation on advancing into the grunt realm. Come, sit. You must be famished. Eat first before you commence your training" said Abel while grinning. At least he was now sure of the fact that Kane could cultivate and grow stronger. Most of the people who made up the 'mortal' populace were those who could not even advance into the grunt realm.

After eating, Kane did the dishes and followed his master to a door that was located right before the staircase which led to the basement. The basement turned out to have an area of more than twice that of the building above ground. It was filled with gym equipment which was neatly placed by the sides all around and a large boxing ring was placed in the middle.

They climbed up onto the ring and Abel made Kane sit. "I bet you are quite excited because you are finally a grunt. Well you shouldn't be that pleased with yourself. I'm going to teach the realms currently known in our world".

Abel saw that Kane sat upright and was paying attention. He nodded inwardly and continued "there are currently ten known realms of power. These realms are also individually divided into nine tiers of minor realms.

The first realm which you are currently in is the grunt realm. This realm is where you build your core. The core is located just right beside your heart. It's what will supply your elemental energy later on when you advance into higher realms.

In the grunt realm, the core is inactive and only accumulates energy. This means that a grunt cannot use elemental energy which powers all skills.

As one progresses through the tiers in the grunt realm, their strength, speed, constitution, endurance, and agility keeps getting enhanced qualitatively according to their mutation until they get to the ninth tier of the grunt realm."

Abel paused to make sure that Kane had no questions before continuing "the second realm is the mutant realm. In this realm, the core becomes partially usable as it is still gathering energy. Elemental energy can now be used only within the cultivator's body but cannot be projected outwards.

This means, for instance, only skills that affect the user's body like stone skin can be used while those like fireball which needs to be projected out cannot be used.

In the mutant realm, the mutation of the cultivator also strengthens. For instance, your heightened observation becomes stronger each time you progress through the mutant realm.

The third realm is the evolved realm. In this realm, the cultivator's core becomes fully unsealed and they can now project skills and abilities outside their bodies.

Advancement in the tiers of this realm increases the elemental pool which is stored in the cultivator's core. For instance, in the first tier of the evolved realm, let's say you can use the fireball skill once before getting exhausted. When you progress into the second tier, you will be able to cast a fireball twice at the very least before getting exhausted.

The fourth realm is the warrior realm. This is where understanding the dao begins. In this realm, the cultivator begins to get inklings and insights into the dao of heaven and earth.

Every Warrior realm expert is an existence those in the lesser realms can never expect to handle"

He paused and while looking intently at Kane, continued "let me take myself as an example. I am studying the dao of fate. Although it's not an offensive dao and more like utility, it is still not something anyone below the warrior realm can handle.

The dao of fate gave me so many abilities. Premonition or gut feeling is one of them. I had a premonition that you are special and our fate was intertwined together. That's why I had to take you in.

I can sense danger before shit hits the fan and recognize opportunities far better than anyone else. I also seem to be luckier than others"

Kane sucked in a deep breath. He understood that warriors who study the dao possess more than an edge against those that don't and this is just when they are still studying it.

Abel Continued "Advancing through this realm also boosts your understanding of the dao you are studying.

The next realm is the knight realm. Throughout this realm, the cultivator's insight becomes sufficient enough to form an absolute ability". Kane had a confused look on his face before asking his master what absolute ability was.

"An absolute ability is an ability formed from the amalgamation of one's insight into the dao which will always be triggered no matter what and can only be countered or mitigated by another absolute ability, deactivation of the ability by the caster or the death of the caster.

One can only truly be in the knight realm when they have mastered an absolute ability". Kane had a solemn look on his face. Absolute abilities were simply heaven-defying. If someone's absolute ability was unquenchable flames then that meant that no matter how small the flame was, it could burn even underwater. He could guess that the dual white disk that his father used when he was fighting Briggs was also an absolute ability.

Abel Continued "The sixth realm is the king realm. In this realm, the cultivator gains the ability of flight and can also learn an additional two absolute abilities bringing it up to a total of three. Your father is a cultivator of this realm.

The seventh realm is the emperor realm. Cultivators in this realm will be able to obtain inklings into another dao that fits them. They can also learn an additional six absolute abilities bringing it to a total of nine absolute abilities.

The eighth realm is the deity realm. Deities are the messengers of the gods. It is unknown how many daos they can learn, they can wield at most fourteen absolute abilities.

The ninth realm is the demigod realm. Demigods are the god's envoys. Any decision made by them represents the will of the gods. They are able to learn three daos and can wield up to twenty-one absolute abilities.

The tenth realm is the god realm. Gods are frighteningly insurmountable beings the depths of their power are unknown. I need you to understand the terror of the gods we have now. Their presence can be likened to that of the Jewish god so many years ago.

They can create unnatural phenomena like affecting crop yield, brewing disasters, causing plagues, and even causing the mutation of cultivators to go haywire until they are reduced to squirming flesh. Mind you, they can do this large scale. Large enough to affect an empire. They can hear their name when uttered by anyone and be able to listen in on the conversation.

They can even answer prayers made in their name. Any disrespect made with their name is more likely to invite their wrath more than not" said Abel with a very serious look on his face. Kane understood the meaning behind what his master was telling him. He could not afford to take these gods as a joke as he might lose his small life without knowing how.

"Let's end this discussion here. You will use these machines according to the workout plan I will draft for you today. Tomorrow we shall head out to procure an identity as a citizen of the city of Edan." said Abel as he gestured towards the gym equipment which was lined up in the basement.