Cultivation Fever

On the other hand, mother was worried. She shouted at father, telling him that he shouldn"t have encouraged me to breakthrough.

It was difficult to tell whose att.i.tude was right, because I truly valued both of their opinions. Father"s reaction brought me a sense of fulfilment, whereas mother"s had riddled me with justified doubt.

It was hard to deal with the feeling that cultivation was wrong. With the restrictions placed on it by the government and my family, I couldn"t help but treat it like a controlled substance.

However, it was different from the things that were forbidden in my old world. Cultivation gave me power. It gave me to the ability to change things. Was that why the government controlled it?

I progressed with a new sense of responsibility. Starting from the first tiny drop of qi, I formed an army, and each droplet was a soldier.

After I broke through, the surface of my soul hardened. It became almost crystalline. My soul couldn"t expand on its own anymore, so I had to try a new method.

I ordered my army of qi to charge against the walls of my soul. With this added pressure, my soul started growing again.

The down side of this new method was that it required a lot of concentration. I had 500 units in my qi army and controlling them all took a toll.

At first, I could only do it for a minute at a time. But over the months, my control improved. By age six, I could control them without breaking focus. By age seven, it became second nature to me.

By age eight, my qi army was almost 800 strong. The day that I could leave home was coming close. I asked father when it would be time, and he told me that I had a month left.

Now, I had to make a decision. Where would I go?

I remembered the large complex just outside of town. I had seen a lot of golden qi, similar to father"s and mine, leaking out of the buildings. I decided to ask father about it.

Early the next morning I went to find him. This early in the morning, he was usually practicing out on the patio.

The sight of father"s monstrous yet beautiful form left me awestruck every time. I waited for him to finish before speaking.

"Father, can I ask you something?"

He turned to me, sweat dripping from his brow, and his body shrank back to normal.

"You"re up early! Sure, fire ahead."

"What"s the place with all the golden qi just outside of town."

He walked back into the library and put on his robes.

"I thought you"d ask me about that sometime soon. Come on, let"s go find your mother."

I rarely had chats with both my parents together, and it was usually after I had done something wrong. Apprehension gnawed at my gut.

"Did I do something bad?"

Father laughed and shook his head.

"Don"t worry, it"s just important that your mother"s here for this."

We found her and sat down in the dining room. My parents sat across the table, facing me.

"Oscar," mother started, "we need to talk about where you want to go."

"The place you asked me about is a Military School," father continued, "and it"s one of the many options you can choose from. "

"Remember sweetie, just because your father was a soldier, doesn"t mean you have to enter the army."

"What do people do in military school?" I asked.

"Well, you learn how to fight. Of course, they teach you other things but…"

"What do they teach you?" I interrupted.

"Military tactics, civilian control, road building… But honestly…" father leaned in closer, "look. If you want to learn how to cultivate, your best bet is the military. With your qi type…"

"Carlo!" Mother interrupted with a shout.

"I"m just telling him the truth!" father responded defensively. "Sure, he could enter an Ascetic Sect but…"

"Those people are just cultivation junkies! I can"t believe you"d suggest that."

"That"s what I was going to say! He doesn"t have any affinities, no sect will…"

"You told me yourself that having no affinities meant that you could study anything!"

"Yes, but Oscar," father turned back to me.

"If you enter a specialised sect, you"ll be at a severe disadvantage. Everyone else will have some affinity for the sect"s technique. If you want to be strong, go to the military."

"Can we just forget about cultivating for one d.a.m.n second?! We"re supposed to be talking about his options, not pigeonholing him into the military!"

"He asked! I"m just telling him about it!"

"Look, sweetie." Mother turned to me and her voice softened. "You don"t have to be the strongest. You don"t have to be the best. Your affinity means that you can go whatever route you want."

"And…" she glared daggers at father, "there are plenty of options besides cultivating."

"I"ve talked to Mr Zhou. You can go work on his farm starting tomorrow! And I"ve told Mr Huang so many stories about you, he"s already offered you an apprenticeship at his merchant house!"

"Thank you, mother. Really, thank you. But I want to cultivate."

"See what you did to him?!" mother shouted at father.

"Stop it!" I cried, cutting mother off, "it"s not father"s fault. I"ve always wanted to cultivate. Even before I saw father training."

"Do you really mean that?" Mother"s voice was weak and strained.

"Yes. I do."

"Stephanie, it"s alright. There"s nice boys like Davide going to Military School."

"Carlo!" her voice became a roar, all weakness gone. "You promised not to tell him that until he made a decision!"

"But… he already…"

"No, he didn"t! He just said he wanted to cultivate!" Tears welled in her eyes. "He could have decided to study under someone nice like Crow!"

"And spend his entire life in a cave? Come on Stephanie."

"I"ve had enough of you!"

Mother jumped up and stormed out of the room. Father watched her leave, then looked back to me with a sigh.

"I"ll talk to her, don"t worry. Look, if you really want to be a strong cultivator," his voice lowered, "go to the military. Their resources are unparalleled, so long as you have the talent."

I made my decision. For now, I didn"t know enough about this world to find another option. I would follow father"s advice. Plus, the prospect of going to school with Davide was exciting.

I nodded, and father rustled my hair.

"Don"t worry about your mother. She wants you to follow your dreams, just like I do, it"s just that she cares so much. She doesn"t want you to get hurt."

I nodded again, and father left the room.

Over the next few weeks, father and I kept rea.s.suring mother that it would all be okay. She wasn"t happy about it, but her anger subsided.

A week before the big day, we had an unexpected visitor.

I was sitting on the bench, reading one of father"s history books, when two people appeared out of nowhere.

I instantly recognised Crow, his chains sc.r.a.ping against the floor. He was bent over double, coughing painfully.

"Helga you old hag, you could have warned me…" he spluttered out.

In front of him stood a stunning woman in a white and gold plunge dress. Her golden sweeping locks shimmered and sparkled as if encrusted with diamonds.

"And where would be the fun in that dear?"

I blinked, and she was right in front of me. She leaned over and swept a strand of hair behind her ear.

"And you must be the troublemaker."