Isaac returned to the Cultivation Pagoda. He dumped the bags of food in the kitchen area, then put 13 pills in the corner with his other stuff. He brought the last pill with him as he sat down on his mattress.
Isaac ate the pill, then closed his eyes to concentrate. He quickly entered meditation and started drawing energy from the pill.
*************************
13 days later, Isaac was lying in the bed. He slowly got up, rubbed his eyes and drew the curtains to the window just above his mattress. Today was his final day of seclusion and it was destined to be a day of hard work.
Isacc directed his will towards the pit of his stomach. When he sensed his 65.9% full Qi Core, he half smiled and half grimaced. Normally he'd cultivate today and attempt his upper stage breakthrough tomorrow, but he didn't have that kind of time. Every day before the tournament was important, so he'd decided not to wait for his breakthrough.
After steeling himself, Isaac took his last pill and popped it into his mouth. He felt it slide down his throat and into his stomach. As his stomach acids began to decompose the pill, Isaac quickly and efficiently harnessed the energy it was emitting. He drew it through his stomach meridian and all the way towards his Qi Core, where he bound it with the core's walls.
Then his will rushed back towards his stomach. On the way, it encountered a second portion of Isaac's will. The second will passed it several strands of Qi and then left. The first portion of will took the strands and went to bind them into the Qi Core. Then it came back to receive more strands from the other bit of will.
Isaac's two wisps of will worked together like this for about 2 hours. Eventually, the pill left Isaac's stomach and began to progress deeper into his digestive system. At this point, Isaac decided to take a break for lunch.
He was absolutely ravenous, so he wolfed down a large but quick 15-minute meal. Then he went right back to cultivating. However, the second part of his session didn't last the typical 6 hours.
3 and a half hours in, Isaac felt like he wasn't making any progress. He was infusing Qi into his core, but its walls didn't seem to be getting any stronger. He used his will to check inside the core. Sure enough, it was 66.7% full.
Middle stage Qi just wouldn't cut it anymore; it wouldn't make his Qi Core any stronger. He needed Qi of higher quality.
Isaac knew he was ready for a breakthrough, but he didn't attempt it immediately. His Qi Core might've been ready, but he wasn't.
It was still early afternoon and he had a considerable chunk of the day left, so Isaac took a trip to the library.
He settled down with a book and read for 2 hours to relax his mind.
When he felt he was ready, he returned to his room in the Cultivation Pagoda. He didn't waste any time in sitting down on his mattress with his back against the wall.
He focused on his Qi Core and used his will to start compressing his Qi.
His Qi expelled a large volume of gaseous impurities, but Isaac dealt with them quite competently. He had already experienced a breakthrough, so he already knew what to do. He used one portion of will to compress his Qi, while the second part of his will funnelled the impurities out of his core and into his Qi Veins (through which they left his body).
The compression process lasted longer and took more effort this time. If he was a 4th or 5th class talent with a lot more Qi, compressing it all might've been difficult. However, Isaac's 3rd class talent and strong will were enough to make this a relatively simple breakthrough.
He followed the same steps he'd gone through in his middle stage breakthrough and, soon enough, blue crystals began to form at the centre of his Qi. When they reached the correct shade – an ocean blue which was slightly lighter than last time – he extracted them and spread the gel-like substance over the inside of his Qi Core.
Then he used the optimum number of crystals to strengthen his meridian points. In the end, Isaac found the breakthrough exhausting but not particularly difficult.
When it was done, he flopped onto his back and closed his eyes. He had a pounding headache from overexerting his will and his Qi Core ached painfully. Isaac just thought of them as growing pains.
Eventually, he managed to prise his eyes open and the cream-coloured ceiling presented itself to him. Isaac stared blankly up at it. Then he craned his neck slightly and looked around the empty room. After taking it all in, Isaac burst into a spontaneous bout of laughter.
Upper stage!
It was another step towards his end goal. A small step, but a step nonetheless. There truly was no feeling like progress; Isaac was jubilant as he directed his will towards his Qi Core. His will hurt, it ached, it didn't want to move, but Isaac didn't care. He simply wanted to see the fruits of his labour.
He forced his will down towards the pit of his stomach and into the small white orb that could be found there. Indeed, the inside was empty. It was completely devoid of Qi, since Isaac had just used it all to strengthen his core.
However, there was a fresh bluish coat on the core's inside – like a thin layer of paint applied to a house's walls. Isaac could sense the slightly darker coat beneath it, and he could also feel the original white wall of his core beneath that. Of the 3, this new layer of sapphire blue was the strongest. Isaac probed it with his will and it pushed back strongly.
He was extremely satisfied with this progress and he wanted to inspect it further, but his will wouldn't let him; it was simply too strained to continue.
Isaac decided it was time to rest. Despite the early hour, he grabbed his bags and left the Cultivation Pagoda.
He walked over to the row of lockers – which was so close it was practically next-door – and paid the man in charge his last reward point. He rented a locker for 2 weeks and put his bags of potions and ingredients inside. When he was sure they were safely stowed, he went back home.
Isaa felt extremely fatigued as he walked back, but he forced himself to stay alert for any potential robbers; he'd already learnt his lesson in this aspect. Fortunately, nobody did try to mug him. He reached the safety of his own home without incident.
The moment he climbed inside his window and locked it, a wave of tiredness assailed Isaac. He could barely make it over to his bed before he fell asleep...
*************************
The Sun was already high in the sky when Isaac rose the next day. He got out of bed, dressed himself, and made breakfast – though it might be more accurate to call it lunch at this point.
He ate slowly. When he was done, he washed up his bowls, put everything away, then left his house.
He walked through the streets languidly. Soon he came to a wide crossroads which separated 2 different blocks of the residential area. Isaac crossed the bustling road and walked towards the new block of houses.
Eventually, he arrived outside a familiar door. In fact, it was very familiar – he'd once spent half an hour knocking on it. This time he didn't have to wait so long. He gave a short, simple knock and called,
"It's Isaac."
After a minute, Eva opened the door.
"What are you doing here? We aren't going on another mission so close to the tournament, are we?"
"No. It's precisely because of the tournament that I'm here. We just recently got new Anima, but we're not adept at using them yet. I thought we could spar, just to get a feel for our new tools."
Eva responded readily,
"Good idea. Let's go."