2 The Choice

Merlin's mind was running fast, trying to figure out what was the best path he could choose. However, he was suddenly interrupted by the young man's annoying voice.

"Come on, this young master doesn't have all the time in the world, you know? Just make a simple decision! Just imagine, you and me, exploring the pleasures of this world, seeking for all the beauties you can dream of!"

Being pressed on by the young man, Merlin's head was aching. As the indecision fought inside his soul, one of the sides started to prevail. Being an immortal Cultivator servent can not be too bad, right? Probably much better than a mortal king! Then, after thinking a bit more, he finally came to his decision.

Bowing down to Luke seated on the bed, he spoke sincere words.

"Master Luke, this old mortal is willing to follow you as your butler!"

Giving a good giggle, Luke stood up and put his hand on Merlin's shoulder.

"Great! I knew you would make the right choice! What are mortal treasures compared to serving this noble young master!?"

"It's my pleasure, young lord!"

Merlin responded, ignoring Luke's narcissism.

Then, Luke suddenly took an ancient piece of paper out of thin air, greatly impressing Merlin. Look at the man's shock, Luke just laughed once more.

"Relax Old Man! This is just a Sacred Spirit Contract, very common among us Cultivators... well, among some of us."

Then he explained how to use it. First, each one of them bit their finger, dropping a drop of blood upon the ancient piece of paper. After receiving the drops of blood, the yellowish piece of paper began brightening up, filled with ancient words made out of golden lines.

After that, Merlin began to recite the Heavenly Oath Luke told him before starting.

"With the Heavens as a witness, I, Merlin, swear to follow young lord Luke and serve him until my death..."

After a long speech previously wrote up by Luke to unsure Merlin's loyalty with the Heavenly Oath, the ancient piece of paper finally began to vaporize into white particles of energy, splitting into three pieces: one entering Merlin's chest, one entering Luke's chest and one ascending up to the Heavens.

"With that done, from now on, you can call me Young Master! Hehehehe"

After the whole process, Merlin was a bit lost at what had just happened, taking him some time to react to Luke's words.

"That's right, Young Master! From now on, I'm at your service!"

After a while of silence, the young man took a strange transparent orb out of nowhere, tossing it to Merlin unexpectedly. Surprised, Merlin's quickly reacted fetching the orb, almost letting it fall in the process.

"Relax, that not any kind of precious treasure or something. It's just an Aptitude Orb! That little thingy will measure your aptitude for cultivation, your inborn Qi element and so on! All you have to do is concentrate all your mind into it."

Hearing Luke's instructions and gazing at the strange orb, Merlin closed his eyes and began concentrating all his attention to the palm os his hands in contact with the orb. As so, some seconds went on without any reaction from the orb.

"Could it be brok..." Luke questioned. But as he was about to finish his rhetorical question, something surged inside the orb.

At first, it was just a dark fog, thin and without any imposing presence. However, an instant later, everything changed. The fog suddenly became a chaotic storm, filled with violent red lighting. It was as if a piece of hell spawned inside the transparent orb. Seconds later, a strange red shadow was born from the storm, instantly blowing up the orb into pieces.

Merlin was extremely frightened. Was that really coming from inside him? And worst, he shattered his young master's Aptitude Orb! Panicking a bit, he rapidly turned his gaze to Luke, sizing up how he would react. However, the young man just stood there static, before letting out a loud laugh.

"Hahahahaha... how Destiny plays tricks on all of us!! Good, very good!!!!!"

With a worried expression, Merlin anxiously tried to talk to his master.

"Young master! What is so good? What is it??"

However, Luke's laugh went on for a long time before he calmed down and looked at Merlin again.

"Well, let me explain to you Old Man. Everyone in this world has meridians in their bodies, that with the correct technique, accumulate the Worldly Qi around us, allowing us to cultivate and become stronger, prolonging our lives!"

Confused, Merlin could not help but ask, interrupting Luke's explanation :

"But Young Master, what does that have to do with that creepy thing exploding the orb!?"

"Call down and don't interrupt! I'm getting there!"

"Uhum, as I was saying, everyone has meridians. But some people are born with especial meridians, with specific characteristics since birth. Some have an affinity to fire, some to ice, yang qi, yin qi, and so on. "

"But in each field of those, there are top constitutions one can have... and those blessed with them are known as proud sons and daughters of the Heavens... or Hell!

"Master, I still not get it!"

"It's your case, you old moron! That fucking storm, blood lighting, and creepy red shadow are the signs of the Primordial Devil Constitution!! As an example, if I had such beauty in hands, this young master over here would already be a King among Gods!"

Hearing such an explanation, Merlin was extremely perplexed. What irony, being blessed with such treasure, but sitting above it for a life without knowing. Truly Heaven's play in his miserable life. Sadness came across his eyes. He could de a stupid mortal, but even he knew that in his age, there were not many prospects in cultivating. At most, he would become an above-average mortal.

Seeing the sadness in Merlin's eyes, Luke snorted.

"Come on you old bag of bones! I know what you're thinking! And I say to you, you have too little faith in this young master of yours! Humm!!"

"Why do you mean, Young Master?"

"Of course I have the means to solve your age problems! But not in my hands right now! Your luck is that this young master treats his followers every well!!"

Hearing such words, hope once more filled the old man's heart.

"Really young master!? Tell me what should I do! Is it a forbidden cultivating art or a mystical treasure?"

Letting his old imagination loose, remembering the tales of his childhood, Merlin daydreamed about his future prospects.

"Just shut up a bit and forget about all that crap you heard about Cultivators as a child!! From now, the only thing you can do is start cultivating immediately!! In the future, we'll search for the solution in my head. But for now, you're not even worthy of walk by my side!! Hum!!"

Then, taking a strange-looking black book out of nowhere, he tossed it to Merlin.

"That's my clan's secret art [Asura Sword Art]! Your luck is that my family practices the way of the hellish Qi, just like yours! We focus on refining our sword and blood through slaughtering! But relax, we're not the evil guys... I think."

Then, Luke simply pressed his finger on Merlin's forehead, passing him the knowledge of how to read the ancient scripts of the book.

"You sit there and begin your cultivation according to the book! I'll sit on the bed to meditate, recuperate from my last injury! After that, we see what we do!"

After that, each one of them began their own cultivation sections.

Opening up the book, Merlin saw it was split into two parts: [Body Cultivation] and [Sword Cultivation]. Looking around the pages for a bit, he went back to the start and followed the steps instructed by the book.

The first one was to focus on his surroundings, metally searching for the Worldly Qi present in the air. This first step went on for a whole day.

Back at the city's walls, Merlin's absence was simply ignored, as the Head Guard passed his job to another good for nothing. However, going back to his office, he called upon two of the Captain Guards.

"You two! That old bastard Merlin didn't come to job today! So do it like this: let's wait two more days. If he doesn't show up to give an explanation, we need to let him know the gravity of failing the City Lord in such a way... Do you understand what I mean?"

The two men gave a little smile, nodding in response to the Head Guard.

"Alright, you guys are dispensed!"

Back at the wooden cabin, after one day of deep concentration, Merlin finally noticed something strange. He started to feel some strange flows around his body. It was like the air was filled with little invisible spheres bouncing at each other and passing by his body.

Checking the book, those seemed to be the Worldly Qi particles! After being capable of fealing those, he could finally pass on to the next step: Sucking those little things into his meridians, creating a continuous flow.

Then, extending his hands in front of his body, seated cross-legged on the ground, Merlin began to concentrate once more on the palm of his hands. Following the book's instructions, he tried to perceive two major meridians on his hands. Ten breaths later, he felt that the little Qi particles of the air began to bounce even more on his hands.

It when intensifying until something on his hands burst apart, spreading pain through his body. However, resisting the piercing feeling, he never took his attention off his hand. And suddenly, he felt that those little balls of energy were rapidly entering his body like crazy.

Now, even if he wanted, he could not stop the crazy absorption of his body. The lines of pain built up from his hands to his arms, chest and eventually spreading through all his body. Never had done that before, Merlin began to panic. The chaotic force was like an angry sea inside his newly discovered meridians.

However, amid all the pain and disorientation, Merlin once more stuck to the book. The third step was kind of strange. One had to actually use their meridians to pressure the Qi particles, refining them with the inborn blood of their meridians, transforming the neutral Worldly Qi into one's own.

In a desperate act, Merlin did his all to mobilize his meridians and try to refine the Qi. However, he was heating up too quickly, he felt like his blood was boiling. He became redder and redder by the minute. At last, he could not stand it anymore, as if he was about to blow up in a mess of blood all over.

But when that was about to happen, some strange force seemed to wake up inside his body, immediately suppressing the Qi particles in his meridians, giving them a dark-red aspect. Moments later, all the Qi in his body turning into a red mass of energy, everything coming back to normal.

Letting out a mouth full of relief, Merlin secretly thanked all the gods he knew that he did not explode in a pool of blood just now. Once more calming down his heart, he proceeded to the last two steps.

Those were to complete a minor Qi circulation and after many of those, a grand circulation. Know that his meridians seemed to finally wake up and follow his order, Merlin finally began controlling the red Qi around his body. Slowly, his meridians seemed to become much more resistant and wider. Also, he felt a well-known vigor throughout all his body and muscles. He had not felt like that since his young years.

Very happy with his successful cultivation initiation, Merlin continued to build up minor and grand circulations of his Qi, familiarizing himself with the process.

As he went on quietly, Luke slowly opened his eyes in the dark, sizing Merlin with a shocked gaze. He was aware of Merlin's condition during the full initiation process. Moments ago, he was ready to step in and help him out, but Merlin managed to make it without his help.

Luke could not help but ponder to himself.

"Truly a monster among men... stepping into the Body Tempering's first realm in just one day... in this Qi less countryside"