The Facility

"I know you don't trust me, but I can help you. Your father was a brave man, and this is the least I can do for him. If you want, you could join these refugees, stay with your people, maybe wander around to nearby settlements for a few years. But when you are old enough, find me. I cannot promise you a good life, or even a safe one, but I can promise that your work will be rewarded. Don't break, kid."

Pasho, Chief in the Imperial Dawn.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

Two children ran from a pack of wolves.

The wolves were rather young, just done with being pups. Among animals, they would be called teenagers, if regular wolves had such concepts. These ones did, in fact, have concepts of teenage. The wolves shouted taunts and insults as they ran.

"Look at you!" said the oldest. He was slightly larger than the others, with dark green fur the colour of forest grass. "You wouldn't survive a day in the jungle!"

The two children ran as fast as their legs would take them. Both, the lanky boy with red eyes, and the blonde girl with roughly chopped hair. For two days now, they had run from the trio of wolves, from one part of the forest to another.

"THEN CATCH US YOU IDIOTS!" The boy shouted, running a loose stream of aura through his limbs. It wasn't enough to be called a true aura technique, the type he saw the wolves use, just a rudimentary use of aura that everyone used.

'Damned cheaters,' he thought. He brushed aside his overgrown hair with one hand, while tightly gripping a knife in his hand. Running slightly faster than him, the blonde haired girl had short, roughly chopped golden hair. On the first day, he had to cut it off with his own blade after they realised her long hair would get in the way too much.

With one hand, she began channelling. Bright blue sparks of lightning began to drift all around her left hand. Turning back, but still running, she angled an extended hand in a clawing motion. The tiniest bolt of bright lightning shot out from her hand, barely enough to be called a true attack, but it caught the smallest, white furred wolf in the snout.

The boy kept running. He had seen his partner do this many times throughout the three days they had spent in the forest. It was a risky move, but they had taken bigger risks and survived.

Then he paused upon noticing that she wasn't running alongside him.

"AIDEN!"

He turned as soon as he heard his name, spinning on one foot and readying the knife in his hand. The black-furred wolf had leapt onto Isolde, who was currently wrestling with it. Claws covered with sky blue wind prana clashed with her sparks of lightning around her arms and the small dagger she held in one hand.

In an instant, Aiden took a deep breath, and changed the pattern of aura running through his body. He focused on his legs, letting the burning energy launch him forwards. He leapt just over a metre, enough to knock aside one of wolves and save his ally from getting her face clawed. He punched it with one hand, wrestling the beast down with his full strength. Taking advantage of the beast's daze to stab at its side with the knife.

Internally, he cursed the rule that forbade him from just killing the damned things, but at least the knives were still useful. The venom in the blade activated, and the wolf slumped over. But there was no rest, Aiden felt a burning sensation on his shoulder, and stood back up, trying to ignore the painful burning of the wound. The green wolf had sliced his shoulder with one aura-infused claw, cutting deeper than a regular attack would. The two remaining wolves were now circling them like the predators they were.

"It was great tracking you down for the past three moons, but I'm afraid your journey ends now," said the largest, green wolf. "You see, humans are simply too weak and fragile to truly contend against the great wolves of the jungle. I applaud your coura-" Isolde sped forward with a burst of sparks and kicked the wolf with all her strength. The damned thing had started monologuing. Its distraction was enough for her to gather enough aura for a final charge. The wolf whimpered and fell backwards, and was met with a slash of the black knife.

The other wolf tried to leap at her but was intercepted by Aiden, who cycled aura as hard as possible through his body to keep the wolf's open jaw from closing around his neck.

Then the beast slumped over, and lay still. Isolde had plunged her knife deep into the wolf, putting it to sleep instantly. Then she fell to the ground, exhausted.

Aiden didn't have time for this. They were so close. He picked up his teammate, slung her over his back and kept running. "Too reckless," he muttered under his breath. He should be annoyed with how reckless she was, and he was. But she had also saved them from failing this very crucial assignment.

When they would reach the finish line, they would finally become cultivators.

It wasn't far away. He navigated the thin edges of the forest, looking for the arrows of blue paint splattered upon the trees. It wasn't long before he, carrying his teammate on his back, reached the edge.

He gently placed her on the ground, then collapsed himself. It didn't matter now, he had finally made it. Three days and three nights of surviving in the woods, and on the fourth morning he had finally beat the wolves chasing them, and found solace.

He heard clapping. "Congratulations, you didn't break."

The voice was monotone and robotic, void of any emotion. He raised his head to see a familiar hooded man. "But I'm not carrying you back, stand."

Aiden jabbed a thumb at Isolde, trying to get back up. "Blame her, have to carry her the entire way back."

Still, he got up, and started to walk. The strange hooded man could be cold at times, but he would at least help the unconscious Isolde back. Aiden wanted to rest, over everything else. The town they lived in wasn't far, one of the many nameless settlements that bordered the thicker forests. They reached the town before the sun went down, into the humble inn.

He was lying in bed after a good meal and a quick bath, when someone threw a spray of water on his face.

"Pssht, Aiden, wake up."

Aiden groaned, and covered his face with one arm. More water hit his arm.

"There's a letter, something dropped on my face."

"Let me sleep" He grumbled, moving to the side. "We can look at it in the morning"

He heard scrambling, and then the bright flash of a runelamp turning on.

Aiden sat up in his bed, blinking at the sudden introduction of light. "Heavens above, why can't you ever let me sleep!" he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Who's the letter from?"

Isolde cleared her throat, sitting on her own bed across from his. Some would say "Bed" was too strong a word for the thin layers of mattresses that they slept on, but after three days in the forest, it was too good to complain about.

Isolde cleared her throat. In the light of the lamp, her near-golden blonde hair and green eyes made her look like a noble's daughter. A noble's daughter with a face covered in bandages, thin scars across her neck, one arm covered in bandage and hair that looked like it was cut by a blind man, of course.

"To Isolde and Aiden," she read out. "If you are reading this, you have passed the final trial I set up for you. I have put many children your age, and older through the exact same tests, so congratulations on making it through when the others could not. Starting from tomorrow, you will be transported to one of our facilities in a nearby city, as the sponsored fledgling martial artists of the Imperial Dawn. While I am impressed that you managed to avoid breaking under the pressure until now, things will only get harder from here. You are old enough to cultivate properly, and greater power will also mean more difficult missions. If you survive the next few months, I'll try and meet you. From Pasho, Chief in the Imperial Dawn." Isolde read all of that in a rush, only stopping to take one final breath once she finished.

"Did you hear that? Of course you did! We are moving to the city!"

Aiden got up to take the letter from her hands, reading it carefully on his own. It was real, written in simple language with Pasho's signature at the bottom. Their sponsor was a rare sight nowadays, ever since they had started the tests that would determine if they would be trained by the Imperial Dawn, but she sent regular letters to the children, often delivered in strange ways.

"This is it." Aiden said. His mind began racing with the possibilities. "We are going to be martial artists."

Isolde smiled widely at him. Aiden had tried to keep away the thoughts of potential failure, of him accidentally violating some clause or being rejected for an unforeseen reason. But with this confirmation, he felt pressure lift from his mind.

Then he turned off the light, and fell onto his bed.

"I'll deal with it in the morning."

In the morning, before the sun rose, they were woken by a loud voice, and the sound of rune lamps blazing into power.

"Up!"

Aiden got up, out of pure instinct. On his first day, he had learned that his teacher hated people who slept in. He slapped aside one quick blow, ducking under a kick. Isolde tried to land a palm strike on the older man's back, but he turned around incredibly quickly and struck at her neck. She dodged, and retaliated with a kick, as Aiden tried to use the man's distraction to strike the back of his covered head.

Isolde's kick was intercepted, and she was sent reeling back from force. In the same moment, Aiden's punch was caught in one fist glowing with red energy.

"Stand at ease."

Aiden retracted his fist, but stood tensely. The hooded figure, known to him only as Bourne, had done this every morning to wake them up. During the first day, they had both woken up to a beating.

"Pack up and meet me outside in five minutes, we will eat on the road. The town of Ophelias is a long journey, and your teacher is waiting." Bourne commanded, walking outside the room. Aiden almost collapsed, but felt a sense of pride. Normally, these mornings ended with the duo on their backs, cradling a new bruise.

Aiden didn't own much. He still owned the small satchel his father had given him. Some books, a runelamp, a small knife and basic supplies. It was meagre living, but it was still better than the past few years. He put everything into his small pack, and carried it on one shoulder.

There was a horse-drawn carriage waiting outside for them, painted with "GOVERNMENT TRANSPORT" in bold red letters. They all got into the large coach, which seemed fit for transport of crops and produce instead of people. There were no seats, and they sat on small cushions on the ground.

As the carriage began to move, Bourne began to speak, cold and emotionless as ever. His voice was distorted as always by his ever-present mask. "Isolde, give me the basics of cultivation."

Aiden used to be annoyed at the man's constant repetition of the most simple questions, but now he had gotten used to them. It was better than the wolves, atleast.

Isolde started speaking, in her usual rushed speech. "The act of absorbing, processing and empowering yourself with the elemental aura energy of heaven and earth, is known as cultivation. When stored energy is used in a structured manner, it is called a technique. People who cultivate are known as Cultivators, and are judged on the density of their aura, amount of aura they can store and the amount of aura they can use at once."

Isolde took a breath, and smiled. "How did I do?"

Bourne nodded, and turned his head to Aiden.

"What are the four cultivation realms?"

Aiden answered almost instinctively, the words burned into his memory. "Cultivators, especially martial artists, are divided into different realms depending on their power. At the lowest is the Body Refinement realm, then the Core Cultivation Realm, Nascent Soul Realm and Immortal Realm."

"Explain the first realm, and give its divisions."

"A cultivator in the body refinement stage cleanses impurities from their body, preparing it for the refinement of stronger energy, developing a Sacred Body technique, a special use of energy that becomes an intrinsic part of you. The realm is divided into three ranks, based on the refinement of the body and the density of stored aura."

Bourne didn't react to the answer and pulled out a folded piece of paper from his jacket.

"I will now read out this official document." He cleared his throat, which sounded very strange through the distortion of his voice.

"Every five years, regional heads and distinguished personnel from the Imperial Dawn may select exceptional children that they are willing to sponsor into martial artists, so that they may serve the Northwind empire. Dawn Chief Pasho, a distinguished personnel in the emperor's service, has selected Shah Aiden and Gelnic Isolde. They have passed the month of trials set for them by their sponsor, and will begin training from the third day of winter, with a trained martial artist prescribed by the Council. We wish to stress that the children must be trained in order to serve the empire, and that the facility will be granted increased funding for their training, and is instructed to provide them the highest grade training and resources possible. From the Council."

Bourne crumpled up the paper and threw it away.

"Look, you kids are resilient, I'll give you that. But the trials we put you through were nothing in comparison to what you're going to face. The wolves were the only real challenge."

"I know." Aiden said, a slight tone of annoyance in his voice. "It's the only thing you ever say to us." Bourne looked at him for a long, long moment, imposing with the lifeless gaze of the wooden mask.

"When you reach the facility, you will be assigned a trainer, who knows more cultivation than you do about your hair. You will be given an assignment, you will be forced to fend for yourself. Neither of you have had even basic training in cultivation, and you will be secretly competing with children around the world. I'm going to make sure you don't completely embarrass yourself. Sit straight, start your meditation"

Aiden didn't wait any longer, sitting up straight and slowing his breath. The masked figure was right, Aiden had no training at all in cultivation, outside of the basic martial arts he learned in school.

Their supervisor removed two small bottles from his coat, placing one each in front of them. "These are simple pills called Boosters. Since both of you already have an aspect in your aura system, you're going to receive a lot of these. They are loaded with compressed aura, perfect for cultivation. Swallow them whole, don't chew."

Isolde had already unscrewed the bottle. She took out the small cylindrical pill into her hand, staring at it for a moment. It shone with a bright cyan light, the colour of Lightning element aura, covered by a thin membrane. She popped it into her mouth, swallowing without water.

"That's good!" Isolde said, closing her eyes. Aiden envied her ability to fall into meditation so easily.

Nervously he looked at the bottle he had been given. He felt a familiar presence from inside it, a disturbing presence. Slowly, he unscrewed the list, and frowned at the energy that it stored inside. 'You need to accept it' Pasho had said. He still replayed the memory in his mind. 'It's a part of you, you can't change it'

Another memory came into focus. Of reading one of his textbooks to prepare for a test. It talked of the types of elemental aura. 'Aura doesn't just present itself in the forms of basic elements, like fire, air or water. It also represents the basic functions and concepts of our reality. Force, Life and its counterpart in Death, Blood, Mind and the ever-present Destruction'. Aiden told his mind to stop being so dramatic and turned the bottle over.

The pill rolled out onto his hand, inducing a slight pain on his skin just from its presence. It looked like a pill of restless ash, slowly shifting inside the membrane. He hated it already.

"I don't have time for this, eat it or you're not getting to learn." the masked supervisor said. Aiden slowed his breathing further, preparing himself to enter meditation. He placed the small pill inside his mouth, and swallowed it whole.

He instantly regretted it. The pill seemed to burn as it dissipated, spreading an aura that his body instinctively wanted to throw out. But he took a hold of his body, and began to concentrate on blurring the pain out. The pain never went away from meditation, it just made it more bearable. Aiden fell into a meditative state as he focused on the energy running in his system. In his mind's eye, his body was illuminated with the light of energy. All across his body, thin lines represented his aura veins, which carried his aura around his body, connecting to a single mass of energy near his navel. His core was half-full with ashen aura. He focused on the aura released by the pill, pulling it out of his stomach using his will, through his aura veins.

It wasn't easy, he had to force his spirit to comply with transporting this much aura. It slowly began to pull the aura, running it through his body in a pattern.

"Stop."

The voice shook him out of his meditation, making Aiden lose his strong focus on his aura. He still held on to the cycling pattern, but without meditation handling wild aura became harder.

"Isolde, define cycling technique."

"Acyclingtechniqueisthetechniqueorpatternthroughwhichacultivatorproccessesnaturalauraintoausableform.Itisusuallyspecialised for a specific form of aura." She trailed, even faster than usual, but running out of steam at the end to take a few panting breaths.

"Exactly, but Aiden is using a cycling technique designed for some other form of aura. If I could guess, it's for fire aura. Turn on your spiritual sight, look at me, and follow."

Aiden complied. He had weak control over his sixth sense, the spiritual sight. He willed the aura present in his eyes to start moving, and his spiritual sight turned on. The world lit up in colour, and he had to bring it under control, focusing on the masked man across from him. He saw the orange light of Fire Aura around the lamps, the steady presence of Earth Aura below the earth, and a small outline of pure white around the supervisor, signifying light aura.

"I can't make a proper cycling technique for you, since I cultivate Light, but this should be good enough. Ask your instructor for a new one later. Observe."

Lines of bright Light aura began to trail across the supervisor's body in Aiden's spiritual vision, slowly drawing themselves across his body, starting from his stomach. He realised this was the cycling technique, and began to mimic the pattern. The man's spiritual action was slow, and very obvious, purposefully drawn out so Aiden could properly copy the pattern. He struggled at first, trying to perfectly cycle the aura around his body. But after the first cycle, wherein the first drops of aura began to fill his core, he fell into a pattern. He kept the cycle going, falling back into his meditation. Slowly, the amount of foreign aura began to decrease, as it became a part of his own aura storage. It cycled through him in a burning pattern that spread pain around his body, but every time the loop passed through his core, he felt the pain reduce as the power of Destruction aura filled him. It was a rush, really. The pain reduced, and the destruction came under his control. In his mind's eye, it looked like an ash grey concentration of energy that constantly shifted and moved. Bit by bit, he filled his core with a destruction aura as the pain disappeared.

"Decent work, we will arrive at the town soon. Granted you don't somehow choke on your own aura before that." said the monotone voice of the instructor. Aiden opened his eyes slowly, looking around. He was almost blinded by the bright lights of aura again, before he turned off his spiritual vision.

"Are you human?" he asked, squinting at the supervisor. "It's been a month, you talk blander than an earth spirit, and have never shown a single emotion outside of constant insults." He didn't even realise what he was saying, under the rush of cycling Destruction aura.

The man looked at him for a few moments in dangerous silence, and Aiden almost began to apologise out of pure fear. Then the man laughed. He laughed. For the first time since Aiden had met him, he showed some emotion.

Bourne bent over, holding his head in one hand while laughing. With the other, he slowly pushed his hood back, exposing a head of wild red hair. "Blander than an earth spirit" He said, still laughing. "Good one, kid. Good one."

Aiden was still shocked. This was the first compliment he had ever heard their supervisor give, and he noticed Isolde sitting with wide-eyed confusion.

As he slowly stopped laughing, Bourne took his mask off, untying a knot of cloth behind his head. The man looked young, and nothing like the gruff voice he typically spoke in behind the mask. He was still smiling widely, looking like he could be a bard singing ballads in a tavern. "Nice to properly meet you, kids." even his voice was pleasant and light, just like a bard. "My name isn't actually Bourne, that's just a fake name. I'm Regian, from the Tallis family. I will be your combat instructor."

Aiden pinched himself. Nope, not dreaming. Then Isolde pinched him, for some reason he couldn't discern at the moment.

"Blander than an earth spirit," Regian said under his breath while standing up, in a humour-filled tone. "Best joke I've heard this month."

—---------------

They arrived at the city of Ophelia as the sun began to rise. The carriage rode into what looked like a market district, getting ready for the day. Merchants stocked displays with wares, shopkeepers began to dust their goods, and fruit sellers began to neatly arrange produce on carts. Nobody spared a second glance at their cart, it blended in perfectly with the rest of the carts that rode into the streets, carrying the day's merchandise. The cart stopped in front of a small building with a rickety sign, labelling it as 'The Incredible Rest'.

"Move out, the carriage takes money by the hour."

Isolde ran out first, grabbing the tiny handbag by her side, and rushing out the carriage. Aiden lifted his pack on his shoulders and followed Regian. They stood in front of the dusty-looking building, which was apparently a Tavern, its old and long bar table visible through the windows, surrounded by empty seats.

Their apparent 'Combat Instructor' walked in first, opening the door, which creaked loudly in response. "Bourne! How is it going!" he proclaimed loudly, waving at the bartender shining a glass.

"Welcome to the Incredible Rest," 'Bourne' said, in a bored voice. "Where the food is great and the rest is incredible"

"The weather today is wonderful, but I'm on business."

The two seemed to discuss the weather for a few minutes, in strange details. They talked about the direction of the wind, colour of the clouds, and the temperature in the Achante mountains. Strangest of all, it was all wrong. They talked of dark clouds, and heavy rains that gave a rest from the heat, but the entire continent was cold at this time, the winter months setting in.

Isolde slowly leaned over to him and whispered "Are they stupid? It's been winter for a month"

The barkeep looked over Regian's shoulder at that, right at Isolde. "No, we aren't stupid, that's just how you get in. Start memorising." Then he looked back towards their "Room Z-3, on the first floor."

Regian gestured for them to follow, as the barkeep handed him a key. The children followed him up a set of stairs into the second floor, down a long hallway into a room marked Y-B.

Reigan kicked down the door, raising his food and striking it with a disciplined kick. It fell over, breaking from its hinges and landing neatly on the ground with a loud crash.

Regian walked in nonchalantly, and began to search around the bed.

"This is how we get into the bases. The Imperial Dawn is a shadow organisation, which means we try to operate without anyone finding out. Entrances are everywhere, you just need to find them." After some more fiddling, he seemed to find something, and pressed a hidden button, which made the entire bed spring up and reveal a trapdoor.

"Isn't all of this kind of… obvious?" Aiden noted, walking forward as Reigan opened the trapdoor. "And what if some random person takes this room and finds the button by chance?"

"Great question, Aiden," Reigan said, stepping onto a ladder under the trapdoor. "The conversation I had with the barkeep had two purposes. Firstly, its code that we use to confirm we aren't under some form of mental control, or doppelgangers in disguise. Secondly, it's a way to tell which room the opening is in today."

Aiden and Isolde stepped down the ladder, and found that the bed conveniently went back down when they were on the ground. Regian began to glow, using a technique that provided them light in the dark environment. It revealed they were in a slick and narrow stone hallway, whose end was too far away to see.

"He told me the wrong room in case I was an impostor. If I walked into room B-3, and tried to open the door, it would kill me near-instantly with hidden traps."

That was a pleasant thought. They began moving down the hallway.

"This tunnel would fill up with toxic gas right now if I didn't press the right button. It's easier for our enemies to rip apart the city and turn it upside down than get in through the passages."

They reached the end of the tunnel after a few more seconds, leading to an old and rusted iron door. "Welcome to the Imperial Dawn, Ophelia branch"

Regian declared as he kicked open the door again. A draft of warm wind hit them suddenly, a welcome relief from the cold winter temperature. They walked into what seemed to be a well-furnished foyer, with an expensive looking carpet, walls filled with displays and cushioned chairs. It looked like the house of the rich merchants, back in Eternium, who used to furnish their carpets with gold and expensive aura enhancements.

Aiden realised the carpet was enhanced with aura, actually. It gave off a strange impression with its unbelievably deep indigo colour, and there was absolutely no sound as he stepped on it. Isolde had noticed the same thing, and was walking around to test the strange property of the carpet.

"Deepwalker wolf fur, the emperor could shoot a technique at it and it still wouldn't make a sound, so no need to try."

Regian kicked open another door, and led them into a massive space that seemed just as posh as the foyer. Its walls were lined with sofas, and it had a small dining table at one side near a window that peeked into a kitchen. An expensive looking chandelier in silver and gold hung from the roof, giving a warm source of light. There were people sitting on the sofas while talking in quiet tones and sipping on cups of steaming liquid.

"Maisha and Brand!" Regian called, walking over to one pair of people that sat on the sofas. "I brought the kids in."

"The kids?" The man asked, in a gruff voice, apparently named Brand. He looked them over with a stable gaze. Aiden could only feel awkward as he stood there next to Isolde, both looking out of place in their expensive surroundings. "Aren't they supposed to be… older?"

"Seriously, Brand, have you ever read the letters?" The tall woman next to Brand said. "Chief Pasho's selection." She looked directly at Aiden, studying him with a complicated look. She had dark skin, covered in scars and a long tattoo of a thorny vine around her neck.

"Raiden and Isalde, right?"

"Aiden and Isolde," the girl standing next to Aiden corrected. Isolde had slowly slunk behind him, hiding most of her body behind Aiden's tall figure and heavy coat, but she walked forward again to proclaim their names.

Maisha laughed, flashing a dangerous smile. She looked almost wolf-like, with sharp features. Next to her, Brand looked as steady as a mountain in comparison, with a bald head and heavy muscles bulging from his simple combat robes. Both stood up at the same time, Brand standing straight with perfect posture and Maisha leaning on one leg. With a start, Aiden realised his own slouched posture and straightened. 'Need to make a good first impression'

"They're rather skinny," Maisha noted. "No worries, training will fix that. Their cultivation…"

A strange feeling passed over Aiden's spirit, like the looming gaze of a predator. He had felt others scan his spirit before, especially his mother, but that felt like a cold gust of wind instead of this ominous feeling.

"Lightning and Destruction?" Maisha asked. "And it's not normal destruction either, what's the story behind that?"

"My mother used lightning, so I use lightning." Isolde said plainly. The gazes then turned to Aiden, awaiting his answer.

Aiden gulped, and took a breath. He answered in a shaky voice "Spiritual attack, which added to a birth defect, I can't cultivate anything else."

"And you cultivate it? Regularly?" Brand asked with a disbelieving expression.

"They don't," Maisha answered. "They're barely foundations, I would be surprised if they have done a single day of body refinement in their life. We need to fix that too."

And then a massive fist flew at Aiden.

Regian had darted in front of him in a flash of movement, his fist flying towards Aiden. He barely had a chance to react, ducking down at the last moment. Then, he noticed that Regian had disappeared. Confused, he looked around, to find Isolde on the ground, holding one arm. Had the instructor moved so fast as to strike at two different locations almost at once?

"Stop using illusions on the children, Reggie." Brand said, kneeling to look at Isolde's injury. Illusions. Regian had said earlier than he was a Light cultivator. The man used some kind of advanced technique to create illusions of himself.

Aiden was in awe. Isolde groaned in pain.

—————————

The Imperial Dawn Facility, what the superiors called "The Base" apparently spread in a wide web underneath the city, blending in with the local cave systems. The children were first taught how to get to their sleeping quarters by Maisha, who would also be their "advancement director", whatever that meant. They climbed down a set of spiralling stairs, down a hallway, at a door. Maisha punched it open, and stepped aside.

The room wasn't big. It wasn't particularly small, either, just empty. Two cots lay on the floor, next to piles of books. There was a small package sitting on each bed.

"Some introductory gifts, for you two." Maisha said. "As your advancement director, I decided you will need it. I will be back here in an hour to escort you to the first training session. Oh, and the bathroom is to your right."

With that, Maisha disappeared down the hallway, moving swiftly.

"I think everyone here is a bit crazy." Isolde said, moving into the room.

"I concur." Aiden added.

They sat on their cots, opening the wrapped boxes. Isolde had ripped the paper apart, but Aiden decided to slowly peel it away, preserving the wrapping. The wooden boxes inside opened, and let out cold air from inside. Runes were lined on its inner edges, providing the cool air. Aiden would have appreciated the coolness, if it wasn't winter and hands weren't going numb. Their room apparently had no heating system like the rest of the facility. He emptied the box onto his bed, three small objects spilling out. A bracelet, a small pill bottle and some kind of folded cloth.

The pill bottle had the same type of destruction aura Booster pill he had received earlier. The bracelet was inscribed with abstract lines and shapes, and Aiden absentmindedly put it aside. The folded cloth turned out to be clothes, a pair of black combat robes and some other accessories. Isolde had already moved into the bathroom, probably to change.

Aiden took the time to put up the divider in the middle of the room and change into his own new clothes. They were strangely comfortable, stretching with his movement. It had come with a black inner robe and pants, a purple-lined outer robe and even a pair of undergarments. Aiden hopped on his bare feet for a bit, feeling the comfort of the fabric. Somehow, it felt warm despite being less layers than his previous clothes.

"This is the greatest thing I've ever worn!" Isolde said as she pushed the divider aside with effort. Her robes were exactly the same, if changed for her size.

Sparks began to coalesce around her as she cycled her aura. Aiden's eyes widened. A technique ignited around Isolde, something he had seen her use back in the forest. Bright blue energy sparked around her legs, and she launched herself forward at Aiden. He reacted deftly, crossing his arms in front of him and cycling his own aura. He couldn't cycle his aura fast enough to form a rudimentary technique to block the first hit, but he aptly ducked under her kick. He cycled potent destruction aura into his palm, slamming it into her stomach and moving aside to reposition. Aiden moved to the other side of the room before she could hit him back.

"What the hell was that for?" Aiden asked, rubbing his arm where Isolde had hit him. She stayed on the ground, groaning in pain from the attack I had launched at her stomach. It wouldn't truly damage her, and the destruction aura hadn't even pierced her clothes. Maybe a bruise for a few hours.

Slowly, she got up. "Wanted to test… the clothes." she said, sitting down on the cot and looking at Aiden like he was at fault for defending.

"I think you're just as crazy as everyone else in here." Aiden said carefully.

"I concur." she replied, and Aiden caught another punch.

Maisha had eventually come for them, when the noises had gotten too loud and the fight a bit too violent. Isolde had recovered from her injury fast and instantly attacked Aiden. She currently had him locked in a headlock. Aiden was just about to get out, when Maisha busted into the room.

"Enthusiasm is good," she said, looking somehow impressed. "But it's time for training, follow me."

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

They were in a massive space, almost like an arena. It wasn't covered in the usual black fur carpet, but with a mat of some strange material Aiden didn't know. It felt tough and springy, and Aiden found that his bare feet found it easier to move. There were many circles of chalk drawn on the ground, marking fighting rings.

Regian waited inside the circle. "It might be your first day, but there is no slacking in the Imperial Dawn. We will be testing your baseline today, to see how much work we need to do." he said. Regian was dressed in a similar combat uniform as them, but with silver highlights. "Aiden, come into the circle, we are going to spar. Don't worry, I will restrict myself."

Aiden gulped. He had seen what Regian's attacks, even restricted, did to Isolde. He had been their victim one too many times when he woke slightly too late.

He gulped, and slowly walked into the circle, standing opposite his teacher in a basic combat stance. He slowed his breathing, cycling destruction aura through his body. It lightly burned. But the same burn began to give him a rush as power flowed into his muscles and bones.

Regian counted down from three, and flew at Aiden. He blocked the punch with his arm, but the man had disappeared the second the fist had connected. Regian reappeared to his right, and Aiden tried to turn, just to be hit in the chest by a palm strike. He dropped to the floor.

"Again, stand up!"

Aiden slowly got up, and got smacked across his face, then punched in his gut. The hits weren't truly damaging, Regian was surely pulling his punches. He got up again, and caught another hit to his arm. Again, pushed back. Again, his feet swept out from under him.

"If you're not even going to try, we might as well send you back to the camp!"

Aiden got up.

Aiden couldn't tell the time anymore. He was hurt all over his body, with a hundred new bruises. The aura moving across his systems had slowly trickled down, used up to provide his strength. Now, there were barely a few drops. He felt empty, and he felt tired.

Isolde was better off. She had sparred with Regian after Aiden.

"A lot of room for improvement." Regian spoke. "Aiden, you can barely fight. We will need to work on your basics later, before we find you good combat arts. As for Isolde…" Regian turned. "Your basics are decent, but you're way too arrogant. You rely too much on your reaction speed, when you know mine is faster than yours."

Aiden accepted the advice. Isolde looked like she was holding back from saying something. Aiden tried to ignore the rising feeling of shame that came over him, cycling the few drops of aura inside him to calm his emotions. Instead his aura seemed to be on edge, pushing him to fight back, to attack his instructor, to snap back with words. But the destructive aura inside him was weak, and he pushed down the feeling. 'Not today' he told it 'But I will learn to fight back one day'

He bowed to Regian respectfully. One should always show gratitude to their teachers.

"The Cycling Chambers" were connected by one long room leading to many smaller rooms. The tiny rooms, or chambers were designed around providing natural elemental aura for cultivation, through a complex system Aiden didn't quite understand. They were each marked with a symbol, representing a form of aura. In front of Aiden, the symbol of a serpent biting its own tail represented destruction. He could feel the restless sense of destruction from beyond the door, resonating with his own spirit. He had been in such a place before, where there was destruction everywhere. The memory still gave him chills.

Maisha opened the door, and Aiden stepped in after her. They sat down cross-legged on the floor, opposite each other. The woman's posture was absolutely perfect, and he found himself subtly changing how he sat.

"I don't cultivate destruction, but certain forms of aura share properties."

A pale white aura spread out over Maisha's form. It was nothing like the bright cloak he had seen on light cultivators. It was ominous, and made him feel like there was a predator stalking him. "My aura is probably the element closest to Destruction, and these cycling techniques should work well enough for you. Pure destruction is very difficult to find in the world. It tends to be created due to the actions of the other elements. Explosions, burning fires, storms, rushing rivers."

Maisha opened a chest next to her, and brought out a few sticks of firewood.

"The most convenient form of destruction is fresh plants. As they burn, their consumption creates destruction." She poured some liquid onto the pile of wood between them, and lit it with a lighter.

The fire burst upwards, making Aiden flinch. "Don't be afraid of the fire. A destruction cultivator afraid of fire is like a cat afraid of fish. Focus on the fire with your spiritual sight, and follow along."

Aiden turned on his spiritual sight and focused it on his instructor with effort. He could only see the bright red of Fire aura.

"Breathe in slowly, and focus on the consumption of the wood by the fire. Focus on the ashes it creates, and how something is turned into nothing. Exhale in small breaths."

Aiden took a deep breath, paying close attention to the wood. He couldn't see it at first, but as he fell into a pattern with his breaths, some things began to stand out to him. The wood seemed to remain constant as the fire burned healthily, but the liquid was completely gone. It had been consumed, turned to nothing. Then the wood began to diminish, slowly. The spots of embers, the blackened branches, the pieces of ash that fell to the ground and the way the wood became subtly smaller by the second. Something else entered his spiritual vision, somehow existing in the same place as the fire aura.

It was grey, the colour of ashen wood. Restless, consuming the wood and turning something into nothing. Aiden took in a deep breath, and the first stream of destruction aura entered his system. Instantly, he began to cycle it throughout his body, but Maisha held out a hand.

"Who taught you that cycling technique? That won't do, focus on me."

Aiden did so, pulling his attention away from the aura to pivot to his teacher. She moved her aura in a slow and exaggerated movement, just like Regian had earlier. Aiden copied the movement, cycling his aura around his spiritual channels. He had to wrestle with control over the aura, as the wild destruction element wished to destroy whatever it touched. He opposed its will with his own, forcing it to move how he demanded. The cycling of the aura felt natural, and he refocused on the fire. Destruction aura flowed into his spirit, was purified and cycled around his body, and stored inside the empty sea of energy in his core. Despite the pain, he felt fuller and stronger than ever before. When he opened his eyes with a full core, Aiden saw his instructor smiling down on him.

"It's a rush, isn't it?" she said. "Advancement in cultivation ranks is marked differently for each realm. For mortals in the body refinement realm, it is defined by the refinement of their body. For refinement, we divide it into the stages of the Bronze Body stage, the Silver Body stage and the Iron body stage. Focus on your core, and spread its power outwards, through your body instead of your spirit."

Aiden nodded, and began his meditation once more. In his mind's eye, his core looked like a mass of ashen energy, restless yet subdued. He gripped it with his willpower, and made it spread through his body. The pain returned, greater than before, and Aiden's meditation almost broke.

Like the low growl of a wolf, a voice spoke to him. "Focus, child. Your aura cannot destroy you, it is a part of you. The pain only exists in your mind."

Aiden fought back against the pain. The rush of cycling destruction aura began to empower him, and he found that the voice was right.

This was his own power, his own body. What right did it have to spread pain across his body? None! The pain didn't disappear, but suddenly he found it much more bearable. The pain wasn't real, it was just what his mind wanted him to believe. This was his aura and his body, and there would be no way that Aiden would lose a fight against himself. Aura spread all over his body, cleansing something as it pushed into his physical form. The energy returned to his body after one push, so he began pushing it through his body once more. Each time, it returned stronger, but the next push became harder.

After the fourth try, his will collapsed like a tired muscle, and Aiden opened his eyes to take panting breaths.

"Constant and regular Body Refinement will create a steady foundation for martial arts. Also, you'll probably need a bath." Maisha said pointing at his arms.

They were covered in a thin film of ash. But when Aiden tried to dust it off, it sizzled against his skin, but didn't hurt.

"Cultivation and body refinement will also help in healing your injuries, but at your stage it leaves behind a residue. Destruction aura tends to break things down, so the impurities in your body gather like ash on your skin."

"What do you cultivate?" Aiden asked her plainly. "I have never seen aura like that before."

Maisha laughed, and the pale white cowl returned over her body. "There's a reason you were assigned to this facility. I cultivate Death aura. Typically, this is my cycling room, but it's also the only room capable of handling other forms of aura that are this corrosive to their surroundings."

Aiden tried to stand, but his legs suddenly felt weak. Before he could topple over, Maisha lazily held him upright with a stick. "You will need to get used to the state of your body as it gets used to its refinement."

He eventually managed to stand on his own, and began slowly walking as Maisha exited the room. The other room burst open. Regian stepped outside, whistling a tune looking as fresh as a daisy. Then slowly, behind him, Isolde crawled out. She was splayed out on the ground, slowly dragging herself forward. "She pushed too hard and now her legs won't work." Regian noted simply and kept walking. "And I'm not carrying her". Maisha shrugged, and kept walking.

Isolde could drag herself along the ground surprisingly fast. Aiden had to help her up a set of stairs, but she eventually recovered and started weakly limping behind them. Under her breath, she muttered something about "stupid body" and "weak bones".

They reached the large couch-filled space from earlier, which was labelled "The Tea Room". A few more people sat at the large dining table to one side, eating food and having hushed conversations. Aiden already felt awkward.

Maisha and Regian took seats, and Aiden nervously started to pull a chair out. Regian raised a hand. "Not so fast, kid. No newcomers on the table, that's the rules."

He stood in confusion for a second, then bowed and took a seat on the floor. If these were the rules, he would follow them. 'The martial artist takes what he gets, no matter the circumstance.' Isolde soon followed.

A man wearing a stained apron deposited two bowls of rice in front of them, with a single spoon. He plopped one small piece of colourless meat onto each, and walked off into a door.

"That's it?" Isolde whispered to him. He decided to not protest, keeping the memories of the food in the refugee camp in his mind. This was a thousand times better than that.

Aiden began to eat. The rice was plain, with only a few sesame seeds inside it for flavour. The meat was utterly flavourless and hard. He managed to gulp it down in three bites. The boy hadn't realised how hungry he was until there was food in front of him, no matter how meagre. Next to him, Isolde had practically inhaled the rice, despite her complaints.

"Fast eaters, aren't they?" Said one of the women on the table. "We all were." Maisha replied, popping a delectable looking sweet into her mouth. He could only get glimpses of the table from his position on the floor, but all the food he saw looked delectable. It was only when Isolde slapped the back of his head that he shook off the hypnosis. The apron man came back and picked up their bowls. "This is newcomer food. It doesn't taste good, but it has nutrients. If you raise your standing within the Dawn, we might give you salt."

He walked off again, when the children didn't protest.

"That salt better be a divine treasure" Isolde whispered.

"It's a simple mission" they said. "Ten days, in and out, clean kill"

Pasho hated being assigned to do missions this simple. The Emperor liked to have sovereignty, whether it was on the mainland, or on the many islands between the Sachild and Beasthome continents. Half of them belonged to the Emperor of Severing Skies, and half of them belonged to the Dragon King. Simple deal, right?

Wrong.

Every few years, some idiot in the islands decided to declare independence, starting a military coup to take over the place. Pasho didn't quite understand the point of launching a coup at such a small area. There were provinces in the mainland that were bigger than this island. What was the point of territory if it was so small? She would grumble about it later, Pasho decided. It was time to work.

She moved under the shadow of night, in a motion of aura so familiar to her. Her technique turned her invisible to mortal eyes, just another flickering shade under the moonlight. She navigated long hallways patrolled by guards, under tables and behind walls. It almost made her feel young again, sneaking around to carry out a mission, an assassin striking from the darkness. Then she remembered how much paperwork she would have to do after this, and felt old again.

"I heard something!" A guard shouted. Pasho reached into the shadows around her, and knocked over a vase on the other side of the room. The guards ran towards the sound, checking all around the broken vase. Pasho calmly walked past them in silence, unnoticed.

Too easy.

It was when she was walking down another long hallway, that her spirit stirred. She sensed danger. Her daggers appeared in her hands instantly, and shadow aura began to cycle through her body. She moved to one shadow-covered corner, bringing up her cloak to cover most of her face in darkness. A presence passed by, a presence that wasn't weak like the other guards. It was veiled, hiding most of its power, but Pasho could still sense someone who could potentially challenge her. A man walked by, dressed in heavy plate mail and carrying a weapon on his back. He stood in the middle of the room, eyes closed and breaths heavy.

"Come out now, I don't have time for this." he said.

A bluff, perhaps? Pasho stayed in place. A disc of fire shot at her, and she deftly dodged under it. "Ah, a Shadow cultivator. Those are rare around these parts."

She moved behind him, and leapt at the man. He ducked under her pounce and shot another disc of fire at her. Pasho dodged, and faced him. More presences moved into the room, from all sides. They carried bright rune lamps in their hands, illuminating the room. "You're definitely not from around here." The armoured man said. "Surrender, and we will be merciful."

Pasho pensively gazed around the room, gauging her situation. Then, her spiritual senses ran over the entire room. Shivers went through everyone's spirit as she measured their power.

Three of them were in the Body Refinement realm, somewhere in Iron. Two were in the early Core Cultivation realm, at the earliest stage of the Golden Core rank.

But the leader… He had a Crystallised core, at the peak of the Core Cultivation realm. Why was Pasho even trying?

"Alright" she said, dropping her combat stance. "I don't have time to waste on a bunch of core cultivators."

The leader's face filled with rage. "Then face the wrath of the greatest warrior in the Verdant Crucible isla-"

"World of Night"

All the light in the room disappeared as Pasho unveiled her spirit. She slipped into the shadows, and appeared on the other side of the room, slitting the throat of the soldier nearest to her. She disappeared again, and another two bodies slumped to the floor. Over and over again, until only the leader was left. She could feel his fear, as he heard the dying screams of his men.

"Let me explain something to you," she whispered into his ear before reappearing on the other side. "You think you're strong, that anyone on this island is strong."

Two daggers ripped through his back. "But I will tell you again, I don't have time to waste on mere core cultivators. The world is large, child, and these tiny pockets don't matter to it."

She slit his throat, and let his body fall to the floor. Pasho recalled her technique, and the lights blinked back to action. She whistled a tune as she opened the door to the usurper's bedchambers. He was somehow calmly sleeping through the entire ordeal, a ratlike man too small for his massive royal bed. She slowly sneaked over, raising one bloody dagger to strike.

A crow cawed loudly. She looked over to the open window, where a corvid sat. It cawed at her again, raising its head to display the letter tied around its neck. Pasho sighed, walking over and taking the letter. The damned bird cawed at it like she was inconveniencing it and flew away.

"Who's there?" the usurper said, sleepily. Pasho suppressed a groan, turning on the lamp next to his bed and opening the letter.

"Greetings, I'm Chief Pasho of the Imperial Dawn, here to execute you in the name of the Great Emperor Hazkai of Severing Skies, Grand Executioner of Heaven, Benevolent defender of Northwind blah blah blah."

"Emperor?" the usurper asked. His eyes widened in fear as he finally snapped out of his sleepy stupor. "GUARDS!"

"Killed them already, no need to try." Pasho noted, looking at the letter in her hands intently. It wasn't in any script she knew. "Hey, can you read this?" she said, showing it to him.

The man looked at her, then the letter, then the dagger in her hand, still dripping blood. He nodded furiously, looking like a rat cornered by a tiger.

"Start reading then." she said, pulling a chair and waiting patiently.

"R-respected Pasho," he began, stuttering and stammering. "T-the Ophelia Facility is glad to s-say that your s-selected children h-have passed their initial t-testing, and have been moved to the f-facility to c-commence their training. A-also please bring s-some s-spirit oranges from the V-Verdant Crucible islands, t-the chef wants some." he slowly looked back up at Pasho. "T-that's all."

Pasho nodded intently. "Do you have any of those oranges in the castle?"

"On my ta-table." he replied. She nodded again. "Thank you, that was of great help". She still killed him. A mission was a mission, no matter how convenient her target had been.

She grabbed a basket of purple spirit-oranges from the man's long dinner table. He was eating well, there were high quality aura-infused fruits everywhere here. She shoved a handful of grapes into her mouth, and leaped out the window.

The children, Aiden and Isolde, had passed their initial testing. She felt the joy of victory in her heart. They had won her a lot of bets by surviving the trials. Ophelia facility? That wasn't too far. She would have to report in, of course, if only to deliver the oranges.

But perhaps it was the time to pay the children a visit.