Samuel sat up only to realize in his shocked horror that the wetness was not sweat as he had instinctively.

No, he was now sitting in a pool of blood and he was soaked in it.

His disoriented state was the only thing from screaming in terror.

“Don’t scream. This is normal.” said the woman with white hair, her tone a lot less brash than before.

“What?... Huh?!?” Samuel was about to speak only to be surprised by the timber of his voice. He brought his sopping wet iron-smelling hands to his lips only to be shocked again by the size of said limb.

It was not just as skinny as he remembered, instead, there was a healthy layer of fat and muscles underneath his skin which also looked smooth and clear. Not at all as cracked as he remembered.

“What happened?”

This made the woman chuckle, surprisingly more friendly than his first impression.

“If you are surprised with your changes, that is completely normal. Your body is simply transformed to a better state now that you are a master cultivator.”

The only words Samuel caught were the last ones and it perked his ears up.

“I am a cultivator!?!” He asked still in complete disbelief.

“Yes. I am pretty sure I said that a couple of seconds ago.” She said once more, adding a soft soothing lilt to her voice that sent weird tingles throughout his body.

Samuel rapidly blinked up at the woman not comprehending what was going on.

“Woah!?! One survived?!? The heavens above! Someone survived!”

Another voice broke in, this one sounded a lot more stuttery but with a lot of jubilation mixed in.

Samuel turned to look at the man and saw him be one of the old cultivators that had entered and who had entered with the white-haired man and woman.

“Someone survived the master’s fallacy!?!” someone shouted in the distance

As if a ripple started in a pond, more and more people seemed to start talking. Everyone exclaimed surprised at his survival in some way. Also more and more people, mostly the teenagers that he had come in started to approach him.

As they did, he noticed something. All of them looked good. Like their blemishes had somehow been diminished and their physical perks enhanced.

Maybe it was the new clothes was wearing but he felt that it was not the whole picture. Granted, the amount of clothes on both the boys and girls was somehow less than the rags he was wearing. Both seem to be designed to drag his eyes to certain assets, especially the girls.

All these new sensations and flood of information and people made him uncomfortable. Things were so different that his mind just wanted some space to process everything.

Something answered his uncertainty and fear. Wisps of white energy started to coat him, covering him in a warm fog of white energy. This energy was warm and seemed to hold him in an embrace. It was as if it was trying to give him a protective space.

“He can already manipulate essence?!?!” Someone asked in surprise.

“Shit! Masters are really something else!” Someone else added.

Samuel started breathing fast, being the center of such attention really started to affect him.

Once more the fog answered, expect this time it started to expand, rapidly. It burst out in every direction.

“Woah! Let’s stop that.” The familiar female voice said.

Immediately the fog surrounding him was blown away with a powerful gust of wind.

“Let’s not turn your first day into a massacre on the first day, hmm?”

She gave him a soft smile before turning to the crowd, a menacing anger in her voice as she said.

“I saved you all once. I am not going to do it again, so if you value your lives, I suggest back off. This is you only warning.”

The wrath in her voice cowed everyone, himself and the the elders included. The crowd quited down and started to back off.

She then turned to him her voice once more gentle and calm.

“That was an impressive display of essence manipulation. Doing so the moment you became a cultivator? Unbelievably so. May I know your name, young cultivator?”

Samuel gulped before saying in a quiet voice.

“Samuel…”

“Well, Samuel. It is an honor to meet a future legend. Now, how about I take you to somewhere more quiet? Will that be okay?”

He nodded rapidly.

“Alright. Is it alright if I carry you?”

The gentleness in her voice would have made Samuel very amenable to whatever she was saying. The fact that she was on his side and doing so much for him even more so.

This time he nodded more conservatively.

Gently, she put his arms around his form before saying.

“Hold on.”

Samuel could feel a gust of wind started surrounding them as she gave him a smile.

“Have you ever flown before?”

He shook his head, nerves making it very difficult to speak.

“It is a treat, trust me. Now, hold tight.”

Samuel’s world lurched as she shot up in the air. For a moment his world was rapid acceralation and gushing of air.

Then all at once it stopped.

All that was present was the soft flow of the wind and a floating.

“Are you afraid of heights?” she asked.

Samuel did not think so so he shook his head.

“Then look down.”

So he did… And his eyes widened.