Becoming A Cultivator

Lucas slowly opened up his eyes. He couldn't quite remember what happened last night.

But he vaguely remembered that it was a tiring night for him. It was so exhausting that he thought that he wanted to close his eyes once more.

However, when he actually realized that his body was full of energy instead, Lucas quickly sat up from his bed.

"What happene-" Lucas stopped speaking as he soon realized another fact about his body.

Not only was his body feeling energized and full of vigor but he also felt that he was somehow getting stronger and stronger every second.

It was as if he absorbed strength from the air around him.

"Wait… This feeling.. It's mana!"

As soon as he realized that his body was constantly absorbing mana from the environment, the red pendant on his chest glowed.

"It took you long enough to realize, sleepy boy. You sure had a very good night's sleep."

Hearing the familiar yet new voice, Lucas was startled for a quick second before exclaiming, "Maya!"

The events of his life yesterday were something straight out of a fever dream and deep down inside Lucas, there's a part of him that thought that it was all only his imagination.

However, what he was feeling right now was nothing short of real. 

The glowing red pendant that was actually a fox girl, the mana currently running on his body, and the memories of him learning the cultivation technique yesterday, Lucas could remember them all as clearly as a cloudless day.

He closed his eyes and looked inside his own body using mana. Just like he expected, there were magical runes carved onto his bones, pulsing and drawing in more and more mana into his body.

Not only that, Lucas also felt more connection with the mana both inside and around his body.

He then tried activating the basic body strengthening technique and it did activate without a split-second delay.

Unlike before when he needed to slowly guide the mana inside his body, this time, he only needed to think of where the mana needed to go and how to behave.

The mana then followed his mental instructions without any delay and activated the basic body-strengthening technique in an instant.

Besides the speed of activation, Lucas also felt another difference with the basic body strengthening technique.

It was the power, the enhancement that he felt compared to when he used it yesterday.

If he felt as if he could jump ten meters high with ease before, right now, Lucas felt as if he could easily jump several times that height with ease.

And the power welling up in his fist, Lucas felt that no doors or walls could detain him anymore as he could easily destroy them with a single punch.

"This felt amazing, Maya."

This time, the red pendant didn't glow red, instead, it released itself from Lucas' neck and floated in front of Lucas for a second before it turned into an ordinary black-haired little girl.

Instead of wearing a frilly dress like before, Maya wore a comfy white shirt and a jumper that was usually worn by kids.

"Of course! And this is only the first stage, imagine how much more amazing it would feel if you keep progressing!"

Then as if she remembered something after speaking, Maya searched the pockets of her jumper and pulled out another book that was comically larger compared to the size of her pocket.

"Speaking of progress, this is the next basic technique you need to learn about the illusion element!"

Lucas stared at the little girl standing in front of him, his eyebrows raised as he saw the increasingly stylish clothing that she wore.

Before taking the book, Lucas curiously asked, "Where did you learn about this kind of clothing?"

Without a single second delay and a proud smile on her face, Maya replied, "From looking through your memories of course!"

"Wait a second, you can look through my memories, even the ones that I don't actively think about…?"

"Yes?"

Lucas' eyes began panicking as if he realized that the little girl might have seen or seen some things that a little girl shouldn't see, but Maya quickly eased him.

"Remember Lucas, I'm old enough to be the grandmother of your grandmother's grandmother's grandmother's grandmother's grandmother's."

"You don't need to worry about a single thing, there's nothing to be embarrassed about being a young healthy teenager."

To change the topic, Lucas was about to grab the glowing purple book in Maya's little hand and learn it as soon as possible, but the alarm on his phone stopped his movement.

Checking the label on the alarm, the day and time, Lucas realized that he was about to be late.

"I need to go to work!"

Lucas shot up from his bed, grabbed his towel, and ran straight to the only bathroom in the house.

"Work? You can earn twice, three times, or even ten times the amount you worked for in Gula! Why would you even bother working in this world?" Maya spoke as she walked around the tiny house.

Looking at the tiny, yet warm house, Maya smiled as she helped Lucas make his bed up and tidy up several places.

"I can't make grandma worry! If I suddenly stopped going to work then she would start asking questions that I'm not sure I can answer!" Lucas shouted from inside the bathroom.

Using her powers to make objects move and float, Maya smiled contently at her work as she finished tidying up the whole house in record time.

A nostalgic emotion welled up inside her as her mouth couldn't stop gently smiling when she saw the small living quarters occupied by a family of two.

It brought her memories of a distant past, something that could only stay as a memory forever, even for a real immortal like her.

Her smile then turned serious as she mumbled quietly yet clearly as if to make sure her words were heard by the heavens and earth, 

"Don't worry, I will make them pay for everything they did…"