Waking back up, I took a deep breath and reveled in the feeling of elemental energy. Compared to Earth, MSE just had more and purer energy in the air. Or maybe, as the largest mountain in this world and sacred ground of the Storm Tyrant, this mountain just had more energy then anywhere else. Whatever it was, now that I'd entered the body refinement realm staying in MSE actually felt better than staying in real life.
"Now that's a dangerous thought." I said, standing up and walking over to the desk. Sitting down, I looked at the food. A soup that was still piping hot, steam rising into the air with a french baguette. It smelled so good that I just couldn't help myself. Picking up the spoon, I took a sip.
Explosions went off in my taste buds as the soup seemed to turn into elemental energy, flowing through my body and into my mindscape. Before I knew it, I had eaten the entire bowl of soup and the bread had disappeared. Sighing, I couldn't believe how good that tasted.
I'm not quite sure how long I sat there basking in the afterglow of the obviously magical food, but by the time I finally opened my eyes again I was sure that something had changed. My brain just seemed to work better, my thoughts where clearer.
While my eyes had been closed, the plates had disappeared, and in it's place was a note. Opening it, I read, "Kid, break the talisman as soon as you can, that soup only works for 2 hours."
'Just like that geezer' I snorted and broke the talisman
Instantly, an hourglass, 20 books, and a piece of paper appeared. Picking up the paper it read, "Storm's Refuge is renowned for it's enchanting and formation work throughout the realms. In order to become a true disciple you need to be able to learn and retain massive amounts of information in a short period of time. You have two hours to finish as many of the books here as possible, then pass the test. It's impossible to pass the test if you haven't completely memorized and understood at least 12 of the books."
'You've gotta be kidding me! I thought I'd be done with pop-quizzes after I became a cultivator!'
Now, normally I'd be freaking out. Each of these books had at least a hundred pages in them, but I was filled with confidence for some reason. Picking up the first book in the pile to my right, I noticed from the corner of my eye that the sand in the hourglass started falling the moment I touched the first book.
Shrugging, I started reading. It was called "History of 2nd Chance (Vol. 1) and I was instantly fascinated. My brain was working over time; my eyes flew across the pages memorizing everything in a blink. "Long, long ago when dinosaurs roamed the Earth a group of cultivators got together to mourn the passing of their father. As far as they knew, he was the oldest being on the planet before his death. His name was asdfasdfasdfabas dfoasnldfasioduhfwe (untranslatable, we call him the forefather), and he'd been loved by almost all. His death was a great surprise, because he was the most powerful person ever. The only clue about his death was a portal to a new dimension his children found, along with a note containing a prophecy."
"The world will change, a great calamity from the skies will nearly destroy it, bringing an end to cultivation on this world for millennia. At our weakest, they will come to enslave you all. I made this dimension as an escape, where my children can hide and continue to cultivate until the world has recovered enough...."
Before I even knew it, I was finishing the 10th volume. "... and then the Witch of Calamity awoke from her centuries long sleep, sending her vile curses and poisons through the dimensions to destroy them. Yet, she knew that they would be back, and the next time they'd be ready for her. So, she gathered the most powerful of us all together and created a new initiative. Since they believe in numbers over quality, why not fight poison with poison..."
Taking a deep breath, I closed the final volume on the history of 2nd Chance. I wanted to sit and think about what I'd just read for a second, but I didn't have the time. So, I pulled the next stack of books to me. "Enchanting for Dummies"
"Basic enchanting can be done by anyone, all it requires is a spiritual material and the ability to influence the elements. For instance, in order to create the most basic of lightning staffs all you need is spiritual wood, a basic lightning attribute energy stone, and enough control to fuse the two together. The formula to fuse spiritual material with an energy stone is...."
As I tore through the books, not realizing just how quickly I was reading, I memorized the basic introductory material to all the major crafts. Enchanting, Smithing, Alchemy, Formations, Woodworking, Beast Taming, Spirit Calling, Medicine, Poisons, and Curses. The last two, poisons and curses, were more about how to recognize and protect yourself from them, but the rest laid the most basic foundation. After reading them, I felt like with some practice I could call on the spirits, or lay down a formation, or tame a beast.
Pushing away from the table, I closed my eyes and went over all the information. To my amazement, I remembered everything. There wasn't anything I felt the need to go back over and refresh myself on. Even the driest history of which king killed his wife then ran off to die in war thousands of years ago... I remembered it all.
Opening my eyes, I realized that not even half of the sand had fallen from the hourglass. "Um, I'm done." I said, hoping I could get started on the test before the magic soup wore off.
Instantly, the books disappeared replaced by a stack of papers and a pen. Diving in, I flew through the test as fast as possible...
"In the year xxxx the treatise of xxxx was signed. What significance does it still have today?"
"How do you enchant a sword without destroying it's fundamental qualities?"
"Draw a formation map."
"How would you go about calling upon a spirit of the wind?"
"If cursed with minor recovery drain, how would you remove the curse from yourself?"
"If you mix vampire's blood, ginseng, and a beezor what do you get?"
Hours passed, and the soup had long worn off. Over 100 pages of questions, calculations, and drawing later I put the pen down. Even though I'd nearly reached the 2nd level of body refinement, my hand was cramping so badly, it was shaking during the final two pages. I had to actually pry the pen from my hand to put it down, and as soon as I said, "Done" and the test disappeared, my head hit the desk and I fell asleep from complete mental exhaustion.
"Hey, wake up!" An annoying fly was buzzing around my head, I swatted at it but it just wouldn't go away. "WAKE UP!" It shouted, and suddenly I was flying through the air, the chair I'd been sitting on having vanished.
"OWW! What was that for?" I asked indignantly, blinking my eyes blearily I saw that Elder Carlos had appeared in the room. Standing up quickly and bowing, despite my headache, I said, "I'm sorry Elder Carlos, I didn't know you were hear."
He just harrumphed and grabbed my shoulder, the world blurring before I appeared in a room with an ancient looking man sitting in front of me. "This is the one." Elder Carlos said, before disappearing in another blur.
The man had an ancient, weather worn face full of crags with deep blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with wisdom. As I looked at him, his eyes seemed to come more and more to life and I felt an energy sweep through my body, examining it. Before I could even react to it, the energy was gone.
"My name is Claudius, and I'm the one in charge of the trials. What is your name?"
Bowing I said, "Elder Claudius, my name is Sam. Sam Hughes."
"Psst, enough of that elder crap. Here, we are all of the storm. My name is good enough for me, it's good enough for you."
Looking around, I realized that I was no longer underground. Instead, I was standing in a villa with windows looking into the clouds. Taking a deep breath, I felt the Air, Lightning, and some other cold elemental energy had gathered in incredible amounts.
"Do you know why you're here?" Claudius asked
"No, but I'm sure it has something to do with the test." I said, turning back to the ancient man in front of me.
"Yes, you're here because you passed all the trials to become a member of the Storm's Refuge. The first person to do so in over a thousand years!"