“I didn’t think you were so much into cats,” Rose said while cuddling with her two new friends.
“Aren’t they great? That black one is called Blacky, that fluffy one’s name is Mr. Snuggles.” I never had many friends visiting my place. But it’s nice that it didn’t appear too crazy or too obsessed. Cats were great, not many animals survived the great calamity but these cute creatures managed to find a way.
“Your naming sense is amazing in a way.” Rose appreciated Mr. Cuddles' cuddliness while grinning mockingly. My room didn’t offer much space to sit. So I sat down on the hard wooden chair while Rose enjoyed the bounciness of my soft mattress.
I leaned back exhausted. “What’s your issue with my naming sense?”
“It sucks.”
“You suck.”
Rose shrugged. “Great conversation.”
Feathers jumped from my shoulder to the desk. While its size was miles apart from the giant table at Uncle Hong’s Eatery it offered the little bird enough space to toil around. The adorable little pecker looked around in awe as if he appreciated my decorative sense. “Thanks, little buddy,” I thought right before he slapped a cat figurine after the other from the desk.
“What’s up with him?” Rose asked while giving up sitting. She lazily lay down on her side.
“Hey, you! Stop that! These are my treasures!” I tried to shield them with my mechanical hand but he swatted it away, as well. He looked at me challengingly as if to say. ‘Got a Problem?’
“I have a problem with this behavior! You will be nice or I won’t feed you!
“Song, he’s a mecha beast. You can’t threaten him with dinner, or the lack of thereof.” But Rose was wrong. The mechanical birds' eyes went wide like I said the meanest thing possible. He then hopped to the edge of the desk, looked down, then looked at me as if he was unsure how to fix the situation. Both of his golden wings were opened ready to fly. He jumped, I jumped, Rose yawned. I barely caught the crazy bird. “Feathers, don’t just jump down! What if I hadn’t caught you? You just hatched, you will be able to fly in the future, I'm sure of it, be a little patient, will you?” He sadly looked at the cat figurines he threw down and then stared apologetically at me.
“I get that you wanted to pick them up. Your humble apology is duly accepted. But please don’t do this again, okay?” I sat him back down on the desk. He nodded guiltily.
“So, how do we do this? Do we share the bed?” I said while turning back to Rose and was greeted by the sound of soft snoring. She lay across my mattress like the backslash symbol leaving me no space to lay down myself. Great.
“I guess it’s only you and me buddy.” The thought of playing with Feathers the night long was balm for my soul. To my surprise, the little bird sat down on a workbook for advanced calculus and had his eyes closed. I sighed. Since when did mecha beasts sleep? But after observing Feathers carefully I noticed spiritual energy circulating around his body. He is not sleeping but cultivating! I remembered that I neglected my own cultivation. So many things happened that it took a back burner.
I closed the shutters and turned off the lights and carefully navigated back to my uncomfortable seat. Luckily, Feathers was glowing dimly and providing me with the honorable service of a night lamp.
Back at home, I visited a school, called Plum Manor at the Frontiers, it was about an hour away by bus or cybersteed. My old teacher used to say that cultivators used to meditate instead of sleep. They were in constant danger of being attacked by mecha beasts so not being aware of their surroundings could have deadly consequences.
I always was of the opinion that if old people could do it that I could do it as well. Sleep is overrated anyway. Well, it’s bad for my skin but I just reward myself with a nice face mask when I find the time. Now that I have a job, no, two jobs, I can afford it.
I sat down cross-legged, remembering my teacher's lessons on how to meditate properly. The instructions were easy enough. Keep a straight back, slow down your breathing, inhale deliberately, exhale your emotions and look into yourself. While the first parts were there to relax one's body and mind, the latter introspection was part of the enlightenment process. We had to learn some verses that explained the process, How did it go? Ah, yes something like,
“Between Heaven and Earth
There seems to be a Bellows:
It is empty, and yet it is inexhaustible;
The more it works, the more comes out of it.
No amount of words can fathom it:
Better look for it within you.”
Yes, let’s forget about taking part in the crazy and deadly games of the Immortals. Adopting a gold-rank beast? Not an issue right now. Rose revealing herself as some kind of immortal demon, betraying my trust and stealing my bed? I will swallow my anger, only calmness remains. Witnessing the chaos at the station, the dead couple who died hand in hand… I won’t forget it but I will deal with that another time. My crippling debt? I wish I could forget it. Especially those merits will be a headache but for now, they leave my mind. I see myself crying in front of the graves of my parents, swearing to myself that I will take back our farm, our land, our home… a dream for another time.
I picture the loss of my left arm. The burning pain brought by the neverending gnawing of the Salamander I’ll never forget. My mind shut down to protect myself. I woke up with a new arm and my spiritual sea in turmoil. But what happened in between? I try to trace the memory.
I was dreaming of my parents, of home, of how it was taken from me by the cold claws of the mecha beasts, of how a Gold-Plated Black Dragon with golden eyes was among them.
Yes, here!
This was not a memory. I never saw such a uniquely black mecha beast. My mind's eye looked at the projection of myself, there the mechanical arm shifted in color, it went black. Golden sparks of lightning curled around it sporadically. I seem to remember them appearing occasionally for example when that hooded guy attacked me on the train or when I was punching the egg Feathers was in. Is it the spirit's ability that manifests by itself like my innate spirit's healing power? It morphed into a passive power of regeneration.
I focused on my Dantian, feeling the spiritual power within. The verdant sea is back to its original shape. Rather ordinary looking and calm. The black storm is gone. In its stead was a small beachless island that contained a single black cave. This was new. I floated towards it or I tried to but, for some reason, no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t reach the island. Its mysterious nature taunting me by evading my grasp. Although I was happy that the storm was gone. At this point, I take any form of normalcy, even half-baked.
I removed my consciousness from my spiritual sea and returned to a state of nothingness. All that remained was me, myself, and my breathing. I felt spiritual energy moving toward me encompassing my whole being. With every breath, I absorbed a tiny fraction. It was assimilated through every pore, penetrated the bone, and fused into me, making me stronger. When the body reached its limit the energy was flowing toward the Dantian filling the spiritual sea, drop by drop. Being a bio-cultivator my absorption rate was rather slow but steady. The cyber interface at my left shoulder changed this aspect dramatically. While the rest of my body absorbed the energy like usual the mechanical arm seemed to devour every particle that dared to get close to it.
The amount of energy was frightening and I had to let go of a lot of it or I feared internal damage. I wasn’t able to manage it properly. My breathing got ragged and I lost my concentration.
“Holy shit!” I cursed out loud. Sweat was pouring down my brows as I opened my eyes. What did Yang say back at Dr. Muramasas clinic? Its name is Midas, the Gold-Plated Black Dragon and its attribute is hunger. It’s not hungry, it’s ravenous, god damnit! I need to find a cultivation technique that can deal with the sudden influx of energy or else my progress will be slow.
Time went by quickly though. We arrived at the dorms at midday and now it’s evening. Although my cultivation was cut short I still got a good few hours in. The other two were still at it though, one cultivated his adorableness the other her Zs. Well, what to do? I still was wearing the baggy clothes of Lynn and I felt pretty sweaty, so I went down to take a quick shower.
Refreshed I changed into simple navy blue sweatpants and a white shirt with cat paws printed on it. I’m at home and might as well be comfortable, or so I thought. But when I got back Rose laughed at my outfit. Arms crossed I showed her the exit. “You are free to insult me from the comfort of the asphalt but if you want to stay here you respect the supremacy of the felines.”
Rose saluted mockingly. I sighed. “Do you want to stay in that getup?”
“Why? You don’t like devils?”
“You know, the more I think about it, the more I’m tempted to say yes.”
“Fine.” Rose stripped right in front of me. Again without an ounce of shame. And again I admired her slender body. For someone who ate so many noodles, it really was unfair. But I guess that’s one of the perks of being immortal.
“I have some old jeans… that are too tight for me now. Also, you can choose a shirt out of the closet.” Rose picked out a plain red shirt. “I’m keeping the hoodie though.”
“You better ask Lynn.”
“Don’t worry about it! She won’t miss it.” As expected the clothes were still baggy on her.
“So captain Song, what’s the plan for today?”
“The plan? There is no plan. We are going to rest for today. We have school tomorrow!”
The plan is back on track. I’m gonna pay off my debts, resolve my issues with my spirits and hopefully graduate in the not all so far future. All to gather the required strength I need to fight the mecha beasts beyond the frontiers.
Yes, my quiet school life starts now.
