The blinding light disappeared and the sun's rays reflected off the lumpy sheen of glass that replaced the desert floor. The entire sea of sand for as far as the eye could see had been transformed. Aliviana's voice no longer lingered in Hadrian's head. That was a good thing because it was beginning to hurt. He rubbed it as he walked across the smooth surface and upon finding the hunter's body, he lifted it.
"Hey, Kat?"
"Yes."
"Disengage the magnets on my back and set the board to autopilot." She did so immediately and it fell but instead of hitting the ground it hovered just above the surface. Hadrian stepped onto it while cradling Aliviana in his arms. In seconds, they were zipping off over the lake of glass and towards his ship, Leaving it behind.
The ride was over quickly and upon arrival at his ship, Hadrian placed the woman in the med bay. As he walked into the white room Kay spoke through the speakers. This was normally how she spoke when they were on his ship. She said that it was less intrusive than speaking into his ear but he suspected she just enjoyed being loud.
"Would you like her to be restrained?"
He screwed up his face as if she had just spoken the stupidest thing possible and said, "Do I like alcohol?" The topic was dropped after that and as soon as she was placed on the bed, restraints sprouted from the sides and wrapped around her ankles and wrists. Following a quick examination of her bonds, Hadrian exited the med bay and headed for another door opposite the one he had left through. The door slid shut from the ceiling while the other slid open. This room was vastly different. Along one wall were targets attached to metal posts. The one across from it had weapons of all sorts lining it. Rifles, pistols, plasma blasters of all sorts and every different blade one could imagine. The two the wall across from the one he had walked through contained another door. In the middle of the room was a mat, similar to the ones used for yoga. Hadrian ignored everything, from the blades to the blasters and strolled over to the mat. He plopped down on it and heaved a sigh.
"Finally!" His body was stiff and ached all over.
"Shall I prepare the music?"
"Please." A moment passed and the speakers assaulted his ears with loud music. "Ughh, what is this?"
"It's called last resort by a band that was from earth called papa roach. I mean no disrespect sir but this is your playlist."
"Just change it to something relaxing."
"As you wish." The music took an abrupt change of pace. The words slowed and the voice went from a screaming man to one that had the voice of an angel.
"Every little thing is gonna be alright." Those words stuck with him as the speakers filled the room with relaxing tunes, this was a classic.
"Now that's what I'm talking about Kat. Three little birds by Bob Marley, now that's music." Hadrian sat in a cross-legged position and enjoyed the tunes for a bit longer before he began cultivating.
The darkness that his eyelids brought transformed into something vastly different. His eyes opened and a vast landscape was revealed before him. Roaring waters crashed against stones far below. He could hear the rapids smacking against the rock beneath him while the water sprayed his entire body. Fresh scents hung in the air and trees lined each side of the river. Hadrian sat on a single rock as the angry waters parted around him and rained upon the stones at the base of the falls. Aside from the river, the forest stretched on into an endless landscape of life and beauty. This was Endlos Vita, His own personal world. If anyone were in the training room on his ship they would see him sitting in the center on a mat with his eyes closed. They may even mistake him for being asleep but he was far from that, he was in a whole other world. His world.
A weight lifted from his shoulders and he stood and stretched. He breathed in heavily through his nose, taking in the freshness of the unpolluted air. "Now this is beauty, Kat. Could you think of anything better?" He said with both hands raised to the heavens as he spun.
"Remember the multi-colored waters on Kiogawa in the Otra system? Those were pretty cool."
"Nevermind you, you probably can't understand true beauty anyway." This was Hadrian's own creation and he loved being here above all else. He plopped back down on the rock. "Since you clearly can't understand just leave me be." She did just that and Hadrian crossed his legs, shut his eyes and let Endlos Vita touch on his other senses so he could take it in fully. The water at his back, the sun on his skin, these sensations brought joy to his heart. The rage that the rapids displayed through their powerful roar invigorated him and the smell of nature from the forest calmed him. This was life.
He remembered when he began this process twenty-five years ago, the same time he started school. The clock always held his gaze longer than the teachers because cultivating was his passion. The ride home was the worst, cultivation was banned in public due to certain people's religious beliefs so he had to wait until the bus ride was over and he was finally home. As soon as his feet hit the ground after the bus ride he was off to his room to cultivate. The world didn't always look like this though. When he first started, it was only an endless void of black. As he broke through new realms the world was slowly revealed to him.
His first achievement was the Diqiu realm, as was everyone's, which in English meant earth. Earth's original cultivators hailed from China, so many of them still used the names chosen by the Chinese. Upon achieving this realm the meaning was quite clear and literal. The earth beneath him was revealed but the world was still entombed by a dark coffin. Next came the Tiankong realm or sky, this as well, was literal. It brought about a blue sky as well as the sun. His world was still bland with only a flat landscape with an endless blue sky. As Hadrian reached new realms more possibilities arose. The next one was Kuozhang or expansion. This one took him a bit to figure out but when he did, he was able to expand the small landscape as much as he wanted as well as create water. He went crazy with this, walking along the now endless earth making ponds, lakes, and rivers. The next realm, however, was even better. It was Chuangjian, it meant creation. With that, he was able to manipulate his world freely. That was as far as Hadrian had achieved. He'd been stuck in the creation stage for eight years. This wasn't unusual, most peaked there but Hadrian always thought of himself as special. He had reached the creation stage at the record age of twenty where many didn't until they were early to mid-thirties and many never did at all.
Hadrian's goal was to reach the next realm by thirty, he had two years but in his mind, he was going to make it even sooner. As time went on the realization came that it couldn't be rushed but he still wished.
His father was the most powerful cultivator he knew. The patriarch of the Sol family, he was even beyond the next stage known as Caozuo or manipulation and reach the revered Tianshang realm, the celestial realm. With this, one was awarded powers beyond imagination. As well as a moon appearing in the night sky of their reality marble. Hadrian longed for that moon. It was rumored that the number of moons that appeared in the sky would signify the cultivator's strength but since his father was the only Tianshang cultivator he knew and even he had only one, the rumor was yet to be confirmed. There was one realm beyond the Tianshang realm but it was only a myth. It was called Buxiu, the immortal realm.
His eyes opened, allowing him to behold the world before him and determination burned within them. That was his dream, to reach the immortal realm. He got off the rock and got down to business. He was here to train.
Hadrian was only on New Sol to meet with his siblings but with the arrival of the Order, they wouldn't be coming. However, the Order would send more. After he had destroyed their androids more would flock to the system. He guessed he had until the end of the day to prepare. After that hell would break loose. That's precisely why Aliviana was still alive, he needed her.
Without another moment Hadrian waved his hand and a staircase of glittering crystal appeared before him. On Endlos Vita he was all powerful. He ascended to the top of the staircase which brought him to a large platform. Upon arrival, he drew his sword from the sheath on his back and began performing techniques. He did so for hours. By the time he was satisfied with that it was well into the evening and the sun was setting.
He waved his hand once again, figures both large and small appeared in the sky. They looked like dark silhouettes with the setting sun backing them. Each one had a pair of wings and a deadly figure. They descended on him like a wake of hungry vultures. The closer they got the more his heart beat and the more they were revealed. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and with the arrival of the first, Hadrian lept from the platform which shattered beneath the force he had exerted. It had the figure of a dragon, its wings each larger than his body. The thousands of crystal shards reflected the dying light and cast an eerie glow in the sky. Just as the luminescent ball crept below the horizon and the last bit of light winked out Hadrian's blade plunged into the head of the beast.
"Kat, You still there?"
"Yes."
"Remember the music from earlier that I didn't want?"
"I do."
"Now is the time for that." Promptly after he spoke, a screaming voice erupted in his ears as he leaped from one beast to another, causing them to drop like flies.
This was how a Sol trained.