Ed smiled back at Staryx, nodded, and looked down at the book he was holding in his hand. He realized there was no title and it was completely blank.
He opened it to skim the first pages, but there's no sign of a name for the cultivation technique. It went off straight to explaining how to perform it along with diagrams showing what parts of the body to focus on.
Ed looked back up at Staryx and asked: "Is there a name for this cultivation technique?"
Staryx tilted his head. "It doesn't have a name. After all, it doesn't actually exist in the real world."
Ed rubbed his chin and shrugged.
"Well...thank you!" He said as he was leaving the sub-space. Staryx waved as he faded away into nothingness.
"Okay...let's try this technique out." Ed cracked his knuckles and started taking deep and controlled breaths. After a while, he began to feel more energized.
[You have cultivated for the first time]
[Unlocked mana and magic stat]
Ed smirked at the notifications. It was working. He then moved the energy he was building up all throughout his body.
[First cycle of mana]
[Stamina +2, Strength +2, Agility +2, magic +1]
Ed stopped his cycling and checked his current stats.
"Alright...I think I could finish the workout now. Let me check my progress…"
Push-up, 100x: (23/100)
Squat, 100x: (0/100)
Sit-up, 100x: (0/100)
Running, 10km: (10/10)
Ed resumed his push-ups. He found himself much lighter. He was smiling. It was now much easier to finish the workout.
***
After an hour of painful exercise, Ed received a notification.
[Daily Quest: "Zero to Hero" has been completed]
[1 stat point available]
[50XP rewarded]
(105/100)
[Confirm level up? Warning: might cause changes to body]
When Ed saw this, his eyes sparkled with excitement. He was able to level up in one day, but, to him, it felt like a week.
"Yes!" He shouted with excitement, careless of what his neighbours thought.
[Proceeding with level up]
Ed started to feel hot from his insides...it was a feeling he was familiar with - it was the exact same as when he was out earlier in the sun.
[Level up progress: 47%]
[Your thirst grows]
The heat and thirst pains were worse, and it only grew and grew.
[Level up progress: 79%]
[Your thirst grows]
As Ed saw each percentage increase, he felt his consciousness slowly slipping away.
[Level up progress: 86%]
[Your thirst grows]
He was now barely holding on.
[Evolution has comple…]
As the pain went away, Ed lost his consciousness, and fainted.
***
A soft wind sings its tune as cherry blossom leaves danced their way towards the concrete pathway. A person was sat at a bench. Their features were androgynous. A leaf danced its way onto their head. A subtle jump came from them, as it awakened them from deep thought. They felt their head with their small hands and grabbed the leaf. They gazed at the leaf, softly smiled and lost themself in thought once again. It looked like nothing could ever disturb their peace.
***
When Ed came to, he was greeted with ringing ears and a beautiful headache. In front of him rested a system window. He couldn't understand what he was looking at.
<2 available stat points>