The bidder led Alain and the awakened to a building guarded by two spearmen who hurriedly stood to greet them. They passed by them and entered.
At the end of a long wooden hill and an oasis pool where carp were swimming, a corridor awaited them with guards who took them to a room. In this one, larger than some people's house could have been, they were made to sit down and join the reading of the professor who was speaking.
"They have just woken up; I am putting them in your care." Said the bidder.
The grey-hair teacher nodded. "Settle down; I'll show you around afterward."
The course talked about a lot of things, but he understood very little of it. Their teacher visited him at the end of it.
"Cultivators are special," he said. "Just one of us, so well trained and practicing unfair tactics, can kill a group of people. Ludovic told me about you. Don't blame him; he's just trying to protect you from the harmful thoughts that waking up causes. He just takes his situation too much to heart since he is in the phase of possible division of his body."
"It's happening so quickly?"
Ludovic seemed in his twenties.
"He's older than you think. His talent is really good. Don't worry; I haven't reached this phase, even though I have a grade-5 talent and have good resources. If you want my opinion rather than your own strength, which you will never be able to develop sufficiently in your life, you must resort to external help. Weapons will be your companions in the future. But first, let me help you cultivate."
They reached a small room where four pallets were placed. There was a little bit of everything, from the straw mattress to significant comfort with cushions, sheets, and blankets, as well as beds. And it seemed to be good quality, more than they had at home.
"In a year, you will be returned to your parents and certainly married according to your abilities. Although the rank means a lot, your understanding, your collective talent, your tenacity, the resources you have, and the teaching you follow play a big role. So get ready. Often, it is better to let things happen and accept the situation than to fight for the passions. Those trained by it end up dying early and sadly. Now sit cross-legged."
He stood behind Francis, and with one hand on his back, he transferred energy to him. "Try to visualize in your body and see the difference. Feel the current that flows and strengthens you. Feel!"
Then he moved towards Alain.
"But? I don't feel much." Said François.
"It's normal! It takes time. Lots of time. It took me two whole months to feel it. That's why I told you that a cultivator's strength comes from the weapons he can wield! A tiny difference makes a lot! And your mind will be strengthened. Now, the only goal is to feel the difference!"
He put his lips towards Alain. He felt a sort of warm current rising within him, but he couldn't perceive it, and the current was light. The teacher stopped, and it was Lena and Emilie's turn.
The teacher stood up as he ended.
"Try to feel it when you can. The training is mostly martial anyway. You know, although it is useful to use energy weapons, they are very expensive. It's not like just anyone can get it. But it is still a prestige to be a farmer, and so your price increases, provided you have value. Your basic body is also easier to control and can exceed ancient human limits. Anyway, it's just to say that you're going to spend the most time doing physical training."
The man left under the gaze of the four teenagers.
"He didn't even explain to us how we're related!" She said, stunned.
"You just had to ask." said Alain
Emilie was about to retort when François said:
"You're forcing it, man. Damn, be human and nice for once. It doesn't seem like you've been traumatized or something."
Anger shook Alain.
"What?" Alain whispered, fists tightened.
Silence.
"Hey! I am talking to you !"
"I don't see what's so important about it, personally." Said Lena. "We are cultivators now."
"And? Maybe it stops you from having emotions?" Emilie retorted.
"Yeah, having emotions and stuff. That must be your fault we stayed there for two whole years."
"What? Say that again?!"
"Yeah, your fault and François' fault. Look, it doesn't matter to me, just like it shouldn't do much to you. You are the strange ones. It's because you had a problem that we stayed for one more years. Two wrongs, twice the time. We've suffered enough to you already so shut up!"
Alain lay down on a bed and closed his eyes while trying to cover his ears. He waited. A few seconds, minutes. The noise really started to annoy him. He wanted to slap them.
Nothing to do, the noise continued.
He sighed nervously and began to remember the feelings from before.
***
François went around. His body was still weakened by spending two years in the same bed. Alain and Emilie seemed strange to him, like Ludovic. Was it due to the operation of Ludovic, chasing away the demonic pet that fed them? He didn't sense this strangeness in Lena. Maybe she was right, and they really had changed.
He sat on a bench overlooking a courtyard where the others, one year younger than him, were training. Cleppé took care of all the awakenings in the surrounding area. Almost no one refused. They had paid dearly for awakening and it should pay off.
The teenagers in front of him, flying pheasants, ran or carried shields and wooden sticks and confronted each other. It looked painful. It was already boring him. So much time of suffering... he wanted to be a farmer, yes, but to travel around the world.
His father had lied to him. Apparently, there were 9 levels to start being a power, 9 levels to become a Knight, and even for someone more talented than him, level 0 had taken him two months. Surely it would take him, what, three months if he worked from scratch? He felt lazy. What was the point?
He swung his feet as he thought.
Yeah. The book. He had to get the book back.
Plus, maybe it would allow him to feel the energy faster...
He slipped into the bedroom. Alain was sleeping on his right, Lena on the upper left, and Emilie was gone.
The book stood on the wooden desk. He walked and opened the book.
He had been taught to read, but the words bore no resemblance to classical writing – the kind that priests taught with religion. Was it a local language? But why would he use a local language if it contained the evolution of the 4 members?
But hey, if it was that important, maybe they would have taken safety precautions.
He flipped from page to page, words sometimes just seeming wrong, sometimes entering his mind. Around the tenth page, the story was still blank. It was just imprinted in blood red with the names of the six holders of the book in the following order [Eloise, Jean, François, Emilie, Alain, Lena.]