"Ugh, my head's killing me," Sam mumbled as he woke up, clutching his throbbing noggin. Those spiritual energy ripples really did a number on him.
Physically, he was fine, but his head told a different story.
He cracked his eyes open and found himself lying in a bed inside the house within the crest.
"Hmm?" He was seriously taken aback when he saw that his Aunt was right there beside him, not to mention that she had her arms wrapped around him, and his face was comfortably nestled on his Aunt's heavenly bosom.
'This feels like a dream come true, but it's kinda wrong, isn't it?' After all, he was born and raised on Earth, so he was pretty bound by their customs. That's why he couldn't help but think that whatever he was feeling towards his Aunt was just plain wrong.
But at this moment, he was enjoying it way too much to worry about all that.
I mean, he was still a horny teenager, after all.
Little did he know, Aunt Lor had been awake for a while. She kept her eyes shut but used her spiritual sense to read his changing reactions. First, there was surprise, then a frown, and finally a look of satisfaction. But there was this tiny hint of something more, almost like lust, on his face.
For her, that was a good start.
Knock! Knock!
Sam heard the knocking on the door, and a bit of annoyance crept onto his face.
'Oh, come on, seriously? Do you have to interrupt my blissful moment?' Sam rolled his eyes and cursed the interruption, not exactly thrilled that someone was disturbing his precious time of softness.
It was his first experience with intimacy, after all.
But when he thought it might be his mom on the other side of the door, his annoyance faded.
Meanwhile, Lorraine, who was still quietly observing Sam through her spiritual sense, couldn't help but smile inwardly as she analyzed his expressions.
She really liked what she was seeing.
Seeing hope in her future progress in her relationship with Sam was a reassuring sign for her.
His aunt acted as if she had just woken up and quickly got up to open the door before Sam could even think to do so. This left Sam with no chance to ask why she had been sleeping beside him.
Lorraine let out a sigh when she saw the bewildered expression on her older sister Helena's face.
Helena was glancing back and forth between Lorraine and her own son, clearly at a loss for words.
'Should I just put a stop to their relationship from progressing any further?' Helena wondered, feeling confused and frustrated. 'But I told Lor that I was okay with their relationship... I mean, I am okay with it. But then why do I get irritated every time I see them getting close?'
It seemed like she didn't quite grasp her own feelings, but the truth was, she understood them perfectly well. She was simply refusing to accept that she was indeed feeling those emotions.
Lorraine, the younger sister, noticed Helena's unusual reaction and then glanced at Sam, who was watching their interaction with a weird expression.
He clearly didn't have a clue about what was going on between the three of them.
But you couldn't blame him for it.
Unlike those dense protagonists you find in novels who miss obvious signs, Sam wasn't like that at all.
It's just that he wasn't familiar with romances, especially one involving his own mom and aunt.
Sensing the mental explosions happening inside her older sister's head, Lorraine said, "We'll discuss whatever it is you're thinking about later."
She then glanced at her nephew, who was sitting on the bed, looking at them with a puzzled expression, and turned back to her older sister. "Now's just not the right moment."
Helena could only let out a sigh and nodded in agreement.
Afterward, the three of them stepped outside the house, and they all played it cool, acting as if nothing unusual had happened between them.
"Son, first, let's dive into the basics of cultivation," Helena began.
Sam nodded eagerly, ready to soak up the information.
"As cultivators, we harness one of nature's energies known as spiritual energy or Qi to boost our strength. We become more potent as our cultivation level increases. But the ultimate aim of cultivation is to achieve the status of a supreme immortal, someone who lives forever."
'Supreme immortals? Like the ones mentioned in my codex?' Sam wondered, but he was too caught up in his mother's explanation.
"And to reach that level, it could take millions and millions of years, but right now, you don't need to worry about that."
But, of course, it was too late. Sam was already lost in thoughts about immortality.
I mean, can you blame him? It's immortality we're talking about here.
His excitement didn't go unnoticed, and his Aunt just shook her head with a small smile.
"There are also realms," Helena continued, "which we cultivators use to gauge our progress. And it's not just a fancy name; each realm holds a deeper meaning. But don't worry, I won't dive into the details right now because you're not quite ready. You'll learn all about them once you embark on your cultivation journey."
His mother, Helena, went on to share everything Sam needed to know to get started with his cultivation.
"Now, there are different types of spiritual Qi in the world, and Earth happens to have a somewhat thin and not-so-great quality of Qi. It's not ideal for us, the dragons. However, it's more than enough to kickstart your cultivation journey at the very beginning. There are nine types of spiritual Qi that we refer to as 'The Nine Tributes of Heaven and Earth,' and they are fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, ice, wood, metal, and dark."
"To be a cultivator, you gotta have something called spiritual veins. And there are different flavors of these veins, nine of them, each matching up with one of the Nine spiritual Qis. Usually, a cultivator has just one type of spiritual vein. Like me and your Aunt Lor, we both have Ice-Spiritual Veins. But then, there are some real lucky folks, like you, who've got two types of these veins."
She took a moment to let her son soak in the information before adding, "And every once in a blue moon, you might run into someone with three or even more types of these veins, but trust me, they're about as rare as a unicorn."