"Here we are. You will be take taking the lecture here"
By the end of their conversation, Desper and Darek reached a white one-story building. It was large with multiple windows and one door.
Desper could see many disciples in the sect's uniform getting inside the building.
"Let's get in" Darek said.
Desper followed behind.
The building was one large hall from inside. The ceiling was high. There was no decoration in the hall, just white walls with windows. There were multiple benches arranged in 2 rows, with many disciples sitting on them.
Desper noticed that they were of different ages. He could see some looked 18 years old—the same age as him, some were older at 20, 25, and 30 years old. He could even guess that one of them was 40 years old.
There were around 25 disciples in total.
in front of them, there was a chair and a table. Sitting on the chair was an elder in his fifties.
He had a firm expression. He had gray hair and brown eyes. Wrinkles were visible on his face. His eyebrows were furrowed.
He was observing the new disciples in front of him.
When Darek and Desper entered the hall, the elder looked at Darek and said "Oh Darek, are you one of this month's assistants?"
"Greeting the Fifth Elder. yes, I will be one of them." Darek cupped his hands and answered in respect.
"Well, I will depend on you." The Fifth Elder nodded, then looked around and asked "Where is the other assistant"
"I'm here" a young disciple was standing at the corner replied.
The Fifth Elder nodded, then turned his gaze toward the sitting disciples.
He stood up and declared.
"Welcome, everyone. I'm the Fifth Elder of the Angry Tiger Sect. I'll be giving you the first of two lectures every new disciple must attend."
"In this lecture, you will learn how to cultivate." He stated.
The Fifth Elder stopped for a second, taking a deep breath, then he continued.
"In the past—before the appearance of the Spatial Cracks—people cultivated for power, glory, ethics or for their personal reasons. But now… we cultivate to survive"
"First of all, what is cultivation? Cultivation means absorbing Energy from surroundings into your Origin. That allows you to use this Energy to strengthen your body and other amazing things an ordinary person can't do"
'I bet no ordinary person is enthusiastic to do these things' Desper sneered inwardly.
"Everything begins with awakening your Origin. It is an incorporeal spherical structure located at the center of your body, between your chest and abdomen. No one knows how it forms, but it always manifests or awakens after ten years of the one's life, never before."
Desper narrowed his eye as he heard that.
'if the Origin manifests after ten years of one's life, why don't I see any disciple under my age over here?' he wondered.
"Once your Origin awakens, you have taken the first step into the world of cultivation. From that moment, you have twice the strength of a normal person"
"Your Origin has the ability to absorb and release the Energy according to your will"
Desper was confused of something. Darek told him that he had awakened his Origin. Despite that, Desper didn't feel anything in the center of his body where the Origin should be.
"The first level of cultivation is called Grafa Level, which means *Digging* in an old language. like its name, you have to dig Energy Channels into your body in this level."
"These Channels will carry the Energy from you Origin to your body, strengthening it. Also, these cannels are important for the other levels of cultivation."
"Once you finish digging your channels throughout your whole body, you can enter the next level which is called Mafari level."
….
The Fifth Elder explained a lot of things about cultivation.
Desper focused hard on lecture. He felt that if he didn't do that, he would regret a lot.
His unexplained desire to get stronger was forcing him to do so.
After an hour, he the Fifth Elder had explained everything he wanted to say, but he didn't end the lecture at that.
"Most of you can't feel their Origins right now. Don't worry, it is normal. Usually, it takes some time to feel your Origin after awakening it. we can accelerate this process by pouring small amount of Energy into your Origin, and you will feel it."
The Fifth Elder said with his hands behind his back.
'I think that is the job of the assistants' Desper thought as he looked toward Darek and the assistant.
"I must warn to cultivate properly. As your cultivation can rise, it can also decline. If you stop cultivating and digging your Channels, you Channels will tighten and shorten until they disappear. We called it Channels Collapse."
"If your Channels collapse, digging them again will be easier than the first time. But, if that happens for no reason and you stop cultivating, you will receive a punishment from the sect" the Fifth Elder warned them with serious expression.
Desper didn't know whether to feel anger, irony or pity.
'Darek told me that the Angry Tiger Sect is a seventh-tier sect which is the lowest tier. This means it is responsible for a territory only the weakest monsters appear in.'
'I can guess that if someone breaks into next level of cultivation which is called the Mafari level, he will be sent to a higher sect to fight stronger monsters"
'How pitiful is a cultivators' lives.' Desper felt sympathy for cultivators 'First, they have to risk their life fighting monster and Spoiled Cultivator. Second, they have to cultivate hard, so their cultivation doesn't decline, and they don't receive a punishment for that; which will rise in their cultivation. thus, they will be sent to a higher sect to risk their lives against stronger monsters and Spoiled Cultivators.'
'Sighhhh… that may be unfair to them, but if they don't do that, humans will be wiped out under the monsters' ferocity." He sighed, then focused once again on what the Elder was saying.
"Each disciple can receive tens low-grade red stones every month from the Allowance Hall. These stones contain energy that is five times more concentrated than the energy in the air."
"They are very useful in cultivation, and you can use them as currency to buy specific things in the sect"
"Last thing in this lecture, I should mention that there is a competition for the new disciples, held every three months" the Elder sighed. "The next one will be next month. It is unfair for you, but we can't do anything about it"
Desper narrowed his eyes as he thought. 'by the time of the competition, some disciples will have trained for three months, while others only for one month. And I'm one of the latter.'
'utterly unfair'
"There will be three winners of this competition. they will receive a flask of Red Energy Liquid. It is similar to the red stones but more valuable and more expensive."
"The three winners will fight for the main prize, a Purifying Pill. It is a really rare pill that the sect can get only one every three months."
"This pill will refine your body and make it much easier to dig Channels through, which will increase your speed of cultivation dramatically."
The Fifth Elder stopped for a while, seemed thinking of something.
"I think I have said all I need for this lecture. now, the disciples who have yet feel their Origin, ask one of the assistants to help you."
After saying that, the Fifth Elder left the hall without saying anything else.
Darek and the other assistant stood up in front of the disciple.
Desper noticed that five disciples were leaving the hall. He guessed that they didn't need help because they had felt their Origin.
The other disciple lined up in front of Darek and the other assistant.
Desper didn't hurry to go and line up with them because Darek had said that he would take Desper on tour of the sect. So, he had to wait for him finish his work here.
One by one, the disciples left the room. Only when there was one disciple left, Desper went to Darek.
Darek was placing his palm on the disciple's back. After a while the disciple's body trembled.
"Did you feel it?" Desper asked the disciple with a smile.
"Y- yes, I did. Thank you, senior" the disciple said with a shaking voice and left the room.
"You turn" Darek said to Desper.
Desper nodded.
Darek placed his hand on Desper's back. Desper felt a stream of warm sensation entering his body.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, his body was shaking. The warm sensation didn't stop as it kept flowing into his body. He felt his body was like a black hole, endlessly hungry for this sensation.
"Wha-
Desper was shocked with this, so he turned his head behind and tried to say something.
He found that he wasn't the only one feeling that. Darek's eyes were closed tightly, his muscles were twitching and his body was sweating.
'What is happening?! This didn't happen with the other.'
Desper was confused from what was happening.
He focused on his body. A small amount of this stream was being absorbed in the center between his abdomen and his chest. There a small gray sphere was gathering the Energy inside.
But, Desper felt the largest portion of the Energy was being absorbed in his chest. There was a larger black sphere at the place of his heart. It was like a black hole devouring the incoming Energy.
Desper was stunned.
'Tw- two Origins?'