Can you imagine a world in the universe that can allow humans, beasts, plants, and all other beings that reside on it a chance to grow into an undying supernatural force to be reckoned with? Special energy that the natives of that world called Qi came from it being the key to infinite life and power. It's not an overstatement to say that the powerhouses who can harness the Qi's power can shift mountains, uproot entire forests, and split the very oceans. Of course, you need one thing to truly harness the true power of Qi and that thing is Talent.
Talent is the very foundation of a person in all worlds whether it be a talent in combat, leadership, or maybe even something mundane such as great eyesight. If you don't have talent in using Qi then you can only achieve limited results, unlike others who can reach others' decades of work in mere weeks or even days. Talent can't be removed or gained easily since it is the gift of the heavens and the heavens do not want their gifts being taken by others from a person. If someone does end up losing their talents against their will, the heavens bless that person with a stronger power that surpasses talent, Providence or some may call it fortune or luck.
Providence is a force unlike any other that can make the greatest heroes or give rise to the vilest demons. An unshakable force that can't be broken or controlled by beings other than the very heavens… or so those who know of providence have thought. In that specific world filled with Qi, unknown to many, there resides a being who can fully control the concepts of talent and providence. A being that can rival or even surpass the very heavens of the universe. Unlike the image, you have in your mind, unexpectedly that every person is only but a child at this moment.
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The World of Heaven's Gift
In the sunny and laid-back part of the west coast of the Trinity Continent there lies a medium-sized city in the forest not far from the sandy shores of the coast. A city meant for touring and holidays for many tired individuals. Many individuals are hustling and bustling in their loose and simple robes, enjoying the sea breeze that whips their long hair slightly away from the direction of the sea. The many buildings that look like medieval constructs are lined neatly with wide paths for the incredible traffic of sightseers who move on idly with their day.
Away from that city and sea, in the near mountains lie a sect called the Purple Cloud Sea Sect which is an institute that teaches individuals how to harness Qi's power or what the natives like to call 'cultivation.' These sects function as schools to teach aspiring youths on how to become stronger in the world with various techniques that allow the students to absorb Qi to strengthen oneself. These techniques are valuable and are worth far more than gold while some techniques will make many powers fight each other to dictate who owns it.
Cultivation is the most important thing in the majority of people's lives as it dictates your social status in the world. Whether you remain a powerless peasant or a leader of an entire city depends on your cultivation. Of course, there are many other paths to success like being a merchant, but even being successful at that is dependent on your talent in business and bartering.
Back to the Purple Cloud Sea Sect, the mountains are arranged like guards that are protecting the middle and tallest mountain. There are a total of 12 mountains where 7 are the outermost mountains, the other 4 are the inner mountains which are behind the outer mountains, and finally, there is the middle mountain behind the 4 inner mountains. On the very peak of the middle mountain or what the sect calls it, Cloud Touching Mountain which is tall enough to reach the clouds. On the peak of the mountain resides a pagoda-like structure which is the Sect Master's abode.
In the pagoda structure, a very vibrant room with red planks of wood that sorted the walls and the floor and ceiling are decorated with light-brown wood planks. Some walls had square openings to let fresh air in and hot air out. In the corner, there is a large wooden bed with a crude mattress compared to Earth standards and a red blanket with yellow flowers embroidered onto it. In the blanket is a small figure of a boy with short black hair which seems to sparkle in the light, creamy white skin, a short round face, a small nose in the center of the face, and some closed rosy lips.
In the room, the light suddenly increased in intensity as the clouds parted and the sun truly shone. It directly hit the closed eyes of the boy who reacted back with his eyelids twitching where the short eyelashes of each eyelid wavered. Due to the light, the boy couldn't keep his eyes closed and slowly opened them to reveal some light blue eyes that reflected the intense light. Already awake, the boy decided to push the blanket off his body and jumped off the bed.
He barely stood at a meter tall (3.28 feet) and stretched his body out after being inactive for a while. He walked to a dark brown door with a silver handle on the opposite wall from where the bed is situated and pushed it open. A hallway wide enough to fit three people side to side greeted the boy's eyes as he slowly walked to the end of the hallway while passing many other dark brown doors. At the end was a set of stairs only leading down which means the current floor of the boy's room is the top floor of the pagoda structure.
He headed down carefully with his short legs since there were no handrails to assist the journey down. After a minute or two and flight after flight of stairs leading down did the boy finally reach the ground floor. Another hallway greeted him with doors that are made of the same wood seen on the top floor. After another minute of walking through the red hallway, a silver door with beautiful carvings of clouds and the ocean appears at the end of the hallway. It may seem imposing, but the boy barely needed any strength to push it open and he appeared at his destination.
"Good morning Cal, did you have a good sleep?" A woman not far from the door said with a gentle smile as her light blue eyes similar to the boy locked onto the little boy walking past the open, silver door. Her light purple hair was styled with some being formed in a bun with a pin holding it while the rest flowed down like a waterfall. It shone like amethyst in the light as she sat in a chair with a table in front of her which held a cup of steaming tea. She wore a purple robe with white-colored cloud patterns woven into it and they outlined her mature body and curves.
"Good morning mom, what's for breakfast?" The little boy or Cal as he was called, answered back.
"There's some roasted Titan King Boar meat, Flaming Spirit Apples, and Ground Siphoning Herbs for you to eat." Cal's mother responded with a gentle smile before taking a sip of the tea without caring much about the heat. Cal nodded in response with a smile and moved to the kitchen to get his meal. He quickly maneuvered through the large ground floor of the pagoda and arrived at the kitchen for his meal which was served by a muscular chef with a toothy grin as he stared at the clumsy Cal eat.
"You know that if anyone saw you eat, they would shame you about your manners given your standing as Sect Master Siana's son." The chef laughed lightly while he teased Cal about his eating habits.
"Uncle Hun, you know manners take time to learn and I have to also constantly be aware of what I'm doing. It's too much of a bother to learn." The young Cal hastily said to the chef before going back to ravaging his food.
"Kid, you need to learn that your image matters a lot or else no one will respect you," Hun replied with a fake frown as he tried to lecture Cal who was too busy to care about Hun's words.
"Who cares? I don't care about other people and how they think of me, as long as they don't bother or trouble me." Cal said as he finished his plate of delicious food. Hun smirked at his words as he knew what type of kid Cal is.
"Stop being lazy and at least try to not embarrass your parents with your laid-back attitude. You're a dignified son of the two top leaders of this sect. Act like a cultured young master instead of a lazy ass." Hun quickly went back to cooking seeing that Cal finished his food and kept lecturing him while controlling the fire with some barely visible red smoke.
"Sure whatever, I'll start tomorrow," Cal said lazily as he watched his Uncle Hun manipulate the fire with the red smoke or what is known as Flame Control which is a type of Spell Art that uses Qi to control fire. There are many uses of Qi and Arts are an efficient and more powerful way to mobilize Qi after many experiments. There are many types of Arts that are split into two types which are Martial Arts and Spell Arts. Martial Arts are ways to use Qi to manipulate the power in your own body to make it more powerful while Spell Arts are used to affect the world and elements around you.
As Cal stared at Hun using his Flame Control he thought 'Appraise.'
[Appraisal Status]
Target: Hun V. Prana
Age: 189
Cultivation: Superior (Beginner)
Traits: None
Talents: Cultivation (Mid-Grand), Comprehension (Low-Grand), Flame Affinity (Adored)
Profession Talents: Alchemy (Master), Cooking (Expert), Smithing (Competent)
[Do you wish to replicate or imprint any talent?]