Author's Note:
For anyone who is still confused about the cultivation in this novel, there is an 'auxiliary' chapter in the Table of Contents / Chapter List in the form of a (YMMV) humorous Q&A. Everything relevant in there does get explained or mentioned eventually so it is not *necessary* reading.
Though feel free to enjoy or comment on any of it if you're that type of reader~
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By the middle of her second year Elua er Goltbred was sitting ready to break into Enchanter in her lesser two fields, but refrained as she was 'only' a Sixth Echelon Enchanter for spiritual cultivation. It was safer to become a Primalist in that field to properly contain the other new Aspects without revealing their development. Being at least one full realm higher with the power of her illusions was the only way to passively assure that nothing less than someone or something 'special' could pierce through her Astralism's facade if she ever lost concentration.
In her mind, keeping hidden at that point would be the smallest of concerns, as she would probably be in the process of being killed at worst, or dismissed as an interesting thing but not worth wasting time at best. Not every cultivator loved taking diversions like she did… and most other powerful creatures only bothered if eating you gained them something.
'Except cats. Those bastards are the worst combination of playful and deadly.'
The toddler's gaze happened to shift out a window to see one of those very such predators, whose back arched and hissed before running directly away from *whatever* it was that wanted it dead. Elua giggled and hid her bloodlust.
While it was an application of spiritual power at its core, there was a lot of nuance that didn't rely entirely on 'actual' cultivation. She hadn't been certain that any of her past experience would carry over. It was nice to test out that it was still effective at such range, but she had no plans to make much use of it.
'Not until I come of age in this society, anyway. That's around when the next local Voidling Descent is predicted to occur. My life here is almost frustratingly safe. No wonder those outwardly strong young members of prominent families in the Guilds of my past were as good as horned rabbits. A foundation built on monetary excess is hardly as stable as one forged under more proper hardship.'
Of course, the girl knew one 'good' reason to be so pampered was that she was hardly old enough by most standards to be taught the local cultivation methods. She hadn't even been given any tests for talent! Whether she was going to let them reflect her potential accurately or not wasn't the point! She just expected a well off family to start extra early on these things and found herself mildly disappointed by their lack of urgency.
This wasn't resolved until she turned four and her mother began extremely basic lessons on the nature of essence. Elua wanted to be polite so she nodded along and listened 'attentively', but her parents' explanations were unnecessary to be frank and underwhelming to be trite. Especially her father, who proved to have something of a hunk of stone for a brain when it came to teaching.
'I really hope it's because he thinks I'm only an average child due to my acting that he tried to explain physical cultivation as going *hngg* with the internal energy until it goes *shwaa*. No sane being should possibly be able to become a Primalist by his age with that method alone.'
Though even she had to admit the onomatopoeia was… apt.
Regardless of the lack of new learning involved, it did result in the fortunate eventual change of letting her cultivate 'alone' for long periods a half year after they began lectures. This let her successfully push towards her full Trinity of Aspects. Only a single servant kept watch and it was child's play (literally, in this case) to fool their senses long enough to break through.
Elua chose to target her Essence first as an Element would be the most reasonable thing to play with in secret compared to a Physique… assuming it wasn't something inherently dangerous. The air surrounding her quietly sitting form ruffled during her breakthrough despite her tight concentration, but she wasn't worried the servant would notice. Her mint eyes opened with a quickly fading glow and she smiled awkwardly.
'Wind… or rather Air? Gasses? All light density fluids? This will take some time to understand completely. At least it's a verification that this body will not house the same abilities as in my past life. No longer will I have to be suspected or looked at strangely by those that came to learn of my Acid Element.'
Another month passed as she came to terms with possessing what seemed to be a Gaseous Element. Her control over specific types of gas as opposed to what generally made up common air was low, but it wasn't nonexistent. As it seemed to her to be a rather comprehensive Aspect, that level of control would likely take a very long time to achieve. If she was caught - or when she decided to 'finally become an Enchanter', the Goltbred heiress decided to just say it was Air… to keep her real cards hidden.
Sitting once again in a mediocre 'special private cultivation room' underneath the courtyard, the little girl patiently waited for the final *shwaa* that would push her into being a physical Enchanter. All of her willpower suppressed the unavoidable pain when it finally came and made a change to her body. The brunette did not want to scream or grunt out loud. She didn't like to use her Astralism more than necessary to keep the servant ignorant, so she usually avoided the sound dampening illusions.
When she let out a violently hot breath then pressed her hand to the stone below to assist herself in standing… Elua quickly ascertained that such *complacent* and miserly behavior could be classified as 'a mistake'.
The sound of stone cracking echoed in the room shortly before her spirit ballooned to forcefully daze and convince the older woman watching that she *hadn't heard a thing*. On top of that, her energy hastily built and applied a semi-permanent visual layer that 'hid' the damage she'd accidentally caused on unlocking her Physique.
The brunette grimaced. If this room was used by anyone other than her, that damage would quickly be discovered when someone accidentally touched it. She would need to be a much stronger spiritual cultivator to fool anyone's sense of touch without manually and subtly convincing them each time.
Worse, she had panicked and now it was almost impossible to retract *some* of the spirit energy that had lodged into the walls… while less than half a percent of her total, it was a loss and an annoyance!
'No matter, I can just consider it some kind of 'preparation' to properly enclose the room in a barrier for once I'm ready to reach Primalist in the other two fields. Though that won't be until I can set myself at the starting gates of a spiritual Breacher.'
She sighed while flexing the muscles in her body carefully. There were a lot of different Physiques she was familiar with. Many were protective or defensive. She was temporary friends with a cultivator in her last youth who was immune to fire… he thought. It turned out he just hadn't ever run into a kind with enough esoteric strength that could overpower that protection - until it did.
The girl still looked on those Physiques as 'useful but dangerous' because of the lack of caution their holders could develop. There had existed (emphasis on had) quite a few she met that thought they were Acid resistant, for instance. Ninety-eight percent ended up being 'unfriendly' and three quarters of those were more than a little wrong on the first encounter.
'They… tended to scream louder than those that weren't under such tenuously prideful assumptions. For whatever reason. Maybe there is some sort of energetic feedback caused by the Physique on the failure of-'
She shook her head to refocus then clenched her fists again. Since she broke stone without meaning to, it was more than likely a strength enhancing type. But she didn't see or feel any *noticeable* change in her body.
'That… is a problem. If I can work out its mechanics swiftly enough I can probably suppress the effects. On the one hand, I'm wishing that I could have gotten another common organ enhancing type. Those are simple. They rarely cause any issue other than some mental adjustments. At first, anyway. I remember when I hit Primalist before and my enhanced taste turned into an extendable tongue.'
If she hadn't lived with it for multiple millennia, she might have shuddered on remembering those first days. Such a change had been both a mental blow and a physical hurdle. In comparison, incredible strength was seemingly nice! Though she now worried about the evolving procession it might go through as the cultivation realms pass.
'Are my muscles going to look like an Ogre's at some point? I really don't want that. That is… I do like *looking* at impressive bodies. I just don't want to be the one ogled by corrupt people like me - and I'm not vain enough to stare in the mirror if it happens, so it will be a total loss!'
She sighed and bent over to try and press her fist lightly around the same cracks, carefully paying attention to everything happening in her body with all her senses while also muffling vibrations with a combination of her fledgling essence control over nearby gasses and her raw spiritual force. Nothing seemed to happen to the ground until she opened her hand again and pressed with all her fingers - and thumb.
The damage rapidly widened in the enforced silence, but Elua merely sighed in relief before adjusting the visual illusion to cover the extended cracks. She was relieved because she'd once examined someone with a similar 'action triggered' Physique before.
'This first stage of this is just something like an incredible grip force. To put it mildly. I won't fling anyone away in an accident with a light tap from anywhere else. More importantly-'
She changed her spiritual manipulation over the surroundings into a tight weave of spirit barrier around her hands before touching the floor again without anything else breaking. It was as *simple* as convincing the two surfaces that they weren't really touching.
'I have even another reason to maintain at least a realm difference in these two cultivation varieties for now. At least until I learn how to suppress it the 'normal' way.'
Even with that amount of optimism, keeping things forcefully hidden remained a thorn in the rear of her mind. Mostly because it was a literal imposition on her spirit. Despite all her prior life experience and available free time as a mostly unbound by duty child, it wasn't until right around the time she was informed of a certain 'arrangement' that the Physique was safely under her control.
Which ended up a fortunate coincidence. Otherwise, she might have accidentally broken the wrist of her betrothed - or ripped 'his' blazer sleeve in all her almost unchecked excitement.