Cultivating

A confused expression appeared on his face as he turned to look at me, with eyes that showed that he was trying to figure out what was going through my mind.

"Magic books? What the hell do you need those for?" 

"What else if not to read? How else am I supposed to improve my cultivation…" I responded and I wasn't at all prepared for what happened next as his arms instantly detach from around my shoulders and I watched him bend slightly to the ground.

"AHHHHH…ahh…ahh," he bursted out into laughter, in a loud tone beating his knees together with his fists without holding back in any way.

"OHHhhhh…magic books…AaahhHHHH…funniest thing I've heard in a while….Improve…oh…ohhhh…this is good…" I watched him continue to laugh and Hollar at my expense waiting for him to cool which surprisingly took a while.

Even when he finally settled down, I could still tell that he was doing his best not to burst into another round of laughter when he raised his head up to meet my gaze.

"Yeap. Your sense of humor has definitely increased," he continued even as I had a blank expression on his face, one that was slowly growing into impatience as I stood to his side and watched him.

"Are you done? Can you now tell me why you bursted out into laughter?" I asked curious to know why he would suddenly do such a thing and what was so funny about trying to learn from magic books.

"What? Is this the continuation of the joke? Do you really not know?" He asked with a trace of a smile on his face even as she went ahead to speak.

"Only those with at least Grade D aptitude can learn those complex cultivation methods from books. Moreover…even such an aptitude all the books in the village are the lowest of the low, so you'll only find techniques to discover mana not to grow it, something that even babies can do,"

"Are you trying to insult or what?" I thought even as I continued to pay rapt attention to what Daerk was saying.

"Everyone in the village knows the Clearing cultivation technique which as I said before is the most basic way of taking in mana from the environment which is almost impossible for people below D because of how long it takes,"

"How long does it take?" I quickly asked the curiosity on my face was huge and was probably why Daerk smiled and simply skipped over my question.

"You'll see when you start cultivating, especially since you're asking me questions you already know the answers to with such a believable expression on your face. Still, I am curious to know why you suddenly decided to give cultivation another try. Didn't you give up on it completely and decide to focus on Transma?"

"Really?" I wondered out loud with a slightly confused look on my face, one that I felt might as well permanently stay there even as I continued to speak.

"...but I'm terrible at It…"

"I know right. But like I said, you're the most stubborn goat I know in the whole village," Daerk responded with a simple shrug looking around like he would like to continue walking but I preferred to stand and talk.

"So where can I find the basic books and can you teach me the Clearing technique?"

"Let's just imagine that there's something temporarily wrong with my brain and I forgot," I quickly added when I watched his face squeeze into confusion, one that told me that he was about to say something that completely deviated from what I asked.

"The Clearing technique is simple and like I said even babies know it," he began even as I did my best to completely ignore the snide comments he threw at me and simply focused on listening to his words.

"You settle down into a lotus position either on the floor or on the bed, whichever feels more comfortable to you. You close your eyes, placing your hands folded and close to the center of your chest. You sink your consciousness deeper to your core beneath the darkness and the conscious things you feel and feel around for the mana you're most suitable with ignoring all else and suck it inside your mana core, preferably water element since that's what almost every in the village has apart from maybe the village chief…the healer's assistant…old man Hostler, hmmm…let's not forget the village chief's son and…"

"...and where can I find the books?" I quickly interrupted, having a nagging feeling that if I allowed him to continue, he wouldn't and might never stop.

"Oh…for that you can just ask the village chief. He has a few in his house. He's pretty nice so he won't mind lending you a few. There are others that also have like the healer and Old man Hostler just in case you don't…" but Daerk was still speaking only for him to suddenly pause when we both suddenly heard his name being called.

We both turned to look to the left at the same time, to see a woman matching towards us with a largely annoyed expression on her face. It was obvious that she was Daerk's mother.

Even as she walked over, my eyes couldn't help but stray to her chest area, slightly shocked by how much more endowed she was in that aspect.

"Didn't I warn you not to go out until after the cultivation test next week…" she yelled at the top of her voice in a way that made me pity Daerk especially since I too would have wanted the ground to open and swallow me if I was being publicly scolded by my mother.

 Still, I couldn't help but wonder what this cultivation test was, since it wouldn't be the first time I would hear someone mention it. Nami and Moey did and now Daerk's mother did.

I would have liked to asked Daerk but i'm barely seconds he had been dragged off with eyes filled with tears and unwillingness.

"This test must be really important…" I thought right before I began moving closer to the Mana exchange office with hopes of asking for directions to the village chief's house which I quickly found to be a bad idea.