Standing at the front, Melina took a deep breath then guided herself carefully to a squatting position. She performed a Cultivation Technique that Mrs Cresttla called the Lotus Breathing Technique.
"Well done, Melina! You truly trained yourself over the holidays. That is a perfect display of the Lotus Breathing Technique!"
Aeric's face contorted in anger and jealousy as he watched her. She was very concentrated with her breaths slow and deliberate. After every inhale, she seemed to draw the very air into herself, and then her body began to glow with the silvery color or the Moonlight Region's Divinity circulating through her form.
"Son Aeric! Daughters Meira and Linnette. Mimic her and attempt to perform the technique just like she is," Mrs Cresttla demanded.
They quickly obeyed. Aeric settled into a lotus position, closing his eyes and drawing a deep breath. Meira and Linnette did the same.
For the Daughters, since their flow of Divinity in their Divine Body was at a normal pace, it was easier for them to control.
The first step was Divinity Gathering, although it wasn't very important, it was helpful to learn it in case one arrived at a situation where they ran out of stored Divinity within the Divine Body.
So, as they squatted there, they began to accumulate Divinity from the surroundings into their body, causing a light having the color of their Region to encompass them.
Meira and Linnette did this well enough, following Melina's lead, but Aeric struggled. Pulling the Divinity felt impossible. He could feel it in the air. In fact, this room, being a cultivation room, was filled with it.
Yet, since his meridians — Divine Vessels — were already overfilled with Divinity, pulling any more from his surroundings was impossible. The best thing was to skip Divinity Gathering and just move on to Body Tempering.
That was the most important aspect of cultivation that he had to learn.
Squeezing his face as he tried and tried to suck in some Divinity from the air, he heard Aryanne snicker. "You're not going to defecate on the floor, are you, Son Aeric?"
Muffled laughter and some that weren't so muffled rippled in the room, causing Aeric's heart to fall heavy and angry.
But he was determined to learn this. He kept his eyes fixed on the practice.
"Your body must act as a vessel," Mrs. Cresttla advised, clearly speaking to Aeric with her voice of authority. "An unrefined form cannot withstand the tides of Divinity. We must balance Divinity with the physical, the mental, the spiritual. This is why we practice Body Tempering and Meridian Cleansing – to create a pathway for that which we aim to wield. It seems your Divine Vessels need cleansing, Son Aeric? Why is that! What corrupts you?! What is clogging the space in your body where the Divinity is supposed to shelter itself?"
'Of course you don't know! It's more Divinity! I have too much in my vessels and no more can enter! None of you know that, and none of you can know. It is a great power, but if wielding it, if having so much Divinity means that I get ridiculed by onlookers like you, then so be it! Once I learn to organize my Divinity Flow, it'll be over for all of you! You'll see!'
His teeth clenched.
"Well done, Son Aeric," he heard Mrs Cresttla say.
'Huh?'
He opened his eyes and saw that a red glow had encompassed him. Just like Melina and the others, although it was not as bright.
Aryanne grunted. "He's still a Classless freak."
Aeric couldn't believe it. He'd somehow managed to force space inside his already overfilled Divine Vessels to allow Divinity to pass through.
Although he celebrated this victory inwardly, Aeric quickly stopped the absorption. He was already congested with Divinity, he had to control that first before absorbing anymore.
"Thanks, Mrs Cresttla."
The elderly woman gave him a studying gaze before muttering, "Hmm," and walking past him to the front. "Back to your mat, Daughter Melina."
The Moonlight Daughter rose up, and whispered something to Aeric as she walked past him. "Get out of our realm, freak abomination..."
Once again, Aeric clenched his fist in anger. Back in his former world, he had been told hitting a girl was wrong, but this Melina was really testing his patience.
And since that rule didn't necessarily apply to this world, he was half-certain he was going to KO-punch her if she pulled his strings again.
The lecture continued.
Mrs. Cresttla taught them other stances, bringing in older Daughters to showcase them. Aeric attempted the Iron Body Stance next, planting his feet and attempting to temper his body.
The Iron Body Stance came with two types, 'Horse Stance' and 'Tiger Stance.' After learning the stances, Aeric attempted to temper. He could feel the strain, his body resisting the unfamiliar posture, but he held his ground, ignoring the laughter and the sharp glances thrown his way.
Aeric learnt 10 Cultivation Techniques that day alone and his brain registered all of them. Lotus Breathing Technique
Iron Body Stance
Divine Tortoise Method
Dragon's Breath Technique
Celestial Flow Technique
Heaven's Gaze Technique
Dancing Rose Technique
Rock Soul Method
Serpent Coil Technique, and
Void Meditation.
When the class finally concluded, Aeric exhaled with relief, his mind spinning with newfound insights. Once he got back to the Castle of Starlight, he was going to quickly begin these Cultivation Techniques in order to manage the Divinity influx within him.
Imagine already having great power within you and only needing to learn how to channel and control it. Aeric was really excited to begin.
He suddenly received a notification from the system.
[Create a daily routine with the inclusion of cultivation and exercises?]
[Yes/No]
Aeric's eyes lit up. 'That's a brilliant idea! That way I know when to cultivate and I won't lose track of a streak.'
He quickly selected [Yes].
[Please hold. Daily routine is being organized...]
[Organization is almost done...]
[Organization is done]
[Daily Routine is complete]
[Next exercise in 7 hours; 1- Divine Tortoise Method.
— focus on Body Tempering and Meridian Cleansing.
2 - Star Fish Stretches for 10 minutes]
[Rewards: 25XP for completion].
'Alright then,' Aeric thought. 'Guess I'll be cultivating in the next seven hou— Ugh!'
He had not noticed the figure behind him, and once he turned, he promptly collided. Books and tomes spilled across the floor in a cluttered pile.
"Oh!" the girl cried.
"Oh, I'm— I'm sorry," he stammered, bending down to help without even looking up at who it was.
The girl knelt too, reaching for a fallen tome, but Aeric was reaching for that time as well. And because of that, their hands met at the center, and Aeric felt a strange jolt. A magical jolt.
Just like it was in the movies.