015 The Branches

Clap, clap.

"That was great!" Nico shouted. He was sure Instructor Lingo was tone-deaf, but at least it was interesting. "Much better than the orientation ceremony."

The other students followed and Instructor Lingo bowed to the audience.

He then provided a last piece of serious advice before he ended the tour for the day.

"Cultivalogy is the study of cultivation," Instructor Lingo explained. "It is the basis for every cultivator in the world. The purpose of cultivation is to increase the spirit root and body using meridians. We have the advantage over magicians in that our physical bodies are stronger.

Cultivators focus on spiritology, the study of spirit force. It is the basis of cultivators' attacks and techniques. Spirit force can be equally strong or stronger than magic. The key to unleashing spirit force is strong physical control and meditation.

Magic, or technically Manatics, is a large branch of study that includes Magicology, Symbology, and Alchemy. Magicology is the study of magic to increase the spirit root and auras. Symbology is the study of mana that is found in nature, divided up into six main discourses. Symbology is the precursor to studying Alchemy, the practice of creating objects from mana.

As students in the Cultivation Branch, you are not restricted to attend lectures from other branches. In fact, it is highly encouraged for you to attend Magic Branch lectures. You are only restricted from entering their Windel Magic Library. Likewise, they are restricted from entering the Windel Cultivation Library."

Nico raised his hand. "Is there a reason why there is a restriction? Why can't a person study both?"

"A person can learn both, but it is not recommended," Instructor Lingo responded. Instructor skimmed through his student list and picked out a random name. "Take Julio for example. His shield spiritual root is level 3, has 2 meridians, and 1 aura. The spiritual root is like the spirit storage of the body. Without a spiritual root, there is no way to store the spirit inside the body. It is required for both cultivation and magic.

Meridians allows your physical body to be enhanced and enable you to use spirit force.

Auras allows your body to connect with mana in the outside world and cast spells.

The more meridians and auras you can open, the faster the spiritual root will grow.

Julio has 2 meridians open, this indicates that his nature is more physically inclined. His spirit root is also a weapon type, so it is easier and faster to guide him toward the cultivation path. In 3-6 years, with hard work, it is possible for him to achieve Condensation stage with Shield Spirit Level 10, 6 meridians, and 1 aura.

However, if he study both cultivation and magic, it could take him 6-10 years to reach Condensation with Shield Spirit Level 10, 4 meridians, and 3 aura.

There are very few geniuses that can handle training both branches.

There are also scholars that still debate over the usefulness in the late stages. For example, is 50 meridian and 1 aura better than 26 meridians and 25 auras? There is no clear cut answer, as there are always advantages and disadvantages to all types of methods.

Many academies adopt this style of teaching because it reduces the amount of students who are disillusioned by their own talent and end up wasting their real talent."

The students nodded their heads as though they understood.

"An-i-more quessstioooooons?"

Crickets.

Crickets.

Nico raised his hands. "What are the cultivation stages?"

"The cultivation stages go from gathering, condensation, foundation, knight, lord, king, and then emperor."

Most everyone seemed to already know that except for Nico.

"Is it the same with magicians?"

"It's similar in the beginning stages."

"So gathering stage students wear blue, condensation stage students wear green, and foundation students wear red? What do knight stage wear?"

"Once you become a knight stage cultivator, you become a graduate of the Academy."

"I see."

"All right, since there are no more questions. Feel free to look around the different clubs available," said Instructor Lingo. "Report to the Cultivation Branch Courtyard tomorrow before dawn."

Jack and Nico walked around the different booths.

There were drama clubs, music clubs, art clubs and so many different clubs that they couldn't even begin to count. While they may seem like the average school clubs, not everyone have drama clubs that could create magical illusions. Music club members could play tunes that heal and artworks that seem to come alive.

"Wow, these are amazing, can we learn these things in the clubs?" Nico asked the seniors.

"Unfortunately, no, clubs are simply for students to perform and display their skills," replied the seniors. "We are not allowed to teach student."

"That's too bad..."

Nico and Jack continued walking around.

Jack eyes lit up when he saw a horse.

"There's a Ranch club!" He shouted excitedly.

Jack wanted to touch the horse, but the senior classroom warned him. The manahorses weren't as friendly to humans as regular horses.

"Too bad there aren't manahorses in the Rinlin area. Do you know of any around the region?"

The senior wasn't too familiar with the Rinlin area and shook his head. "Some of the better horses are tamed from the west and southern region. I'm not sure about the quality in the eastern region. There might be some, but they are not as well known."

Jack stayed at the Ranch Club while Nico continued browsing around the different displays.

Nico wasn't particularly interested in any clubs if he couldn't learn from them. He was more interested in the Windel General Library.

The General Library was a two-story building with many general knowledge books and was open to all the students. There were herbology books, mineralogy books and many academic books. The contents were not in depth, but they were more than what Nico had known.