"Ugh." The boy, Bakma, tosses in his sleep, lips cracked from thirst. On the other side of the room sits the older man who found him in the desert, carefully crushing up ingredients and mixing liquid vials before placing the half-finished product over an open flame. Sitting back in his chair, he glances over at Bakma.
He lets out a sigh before turning back to his desk, grabbing the heated vial, now glowing with a brilliant, radiant light. Standing up, he walks over to where Bakma is sleeping and presses the vial to his lips, letting him drink the contents inside. Then he pulls back and crushes the vial, not even leaving behind the shards of glass. He can't risk anyone else knowing about this potion.
"Consider my debt paid, you old bastard," the man says as he leaves the building, leaving behind only a small bag of food and water.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
When I came to, my eyes were groggy and my throat felt like it was caked with sand. Not much different than how it normally is. Looking around at my surroundings, I found myself in a small wooden cabin—a wooden bed with thin sheets sat in one corner of the room where I woke up. On the opposite end was a wooden desk, and near the front door was a satchel with at least three days' worth of supplies. Basically a fortune for me. I hadn't seen this much water in one place before.
I quickly ripped open one of the canteens of water, downing the contents in a matter of seconds. Not my brightest idea—water is rare in this part of the frontier—but I hadn't had a drink in days. Though, it is kind of sad… I could've traded that one canteen for some nice sheets. Still, I'd rather be alive than sleep on a comfy bed.
Tossing the empty canteen to the side, I continued digging through the bag when I heard an odd sound—like the ding of a bell—and an unusual screen appeared in front of my eyes, blocking my view of the delicious jerky I had just locked onto a second before.
[System Integration Complete]
[Would you like to access the system?]
"What the hell is that? I've never heard anything about a system… Maybe I'm hallucinating from drinking all that water after so long," I muttered under my breath, swiping at the screen, trying to get back to searching through the bag.
[Opening the system]
[Base Information]
Name: Bakma Ji-in
Health: 6 / 10
Qi: 0 / 0
Cultivation Path:None
Status: ⚠️ Starving
[Skills]
▪ Basic Qi Cultivation
Level: 0 (0%)
The rudimentary art of sensing and circulating Qi in order to open the Meridians within the body. Mastery begins with breath, discipline, andpatience.
"W-What is this? Cultivation? Wait—does this mean I'm a cultivator now? I'M A CULTIVATOR!" I scream out as I leap back from the bag, almost knocking it over.
Here in the frontier, cultivation isn't widespread. People just don't have the time to cultivate when they're too busy searching for their next meal. But those who can cultivate are seen by the wretches at the bottom rung as the ultimate goal—people who don't have to struggle every day to survive. And now… I'm one of them!
Well, not yet. From the description of the skill, I guess I don't have my meridians open. But it can't be that hard, and I do have enough food for a while.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
[2 Days Later]
"AAGH!!" I shout in frustration. "Seriously? I've been sitting here for two days and it's barely budged past 5%! What am I doing wrong? From what I've heard, cultivators just sit around for a while and get stronger—but I'm getting nowhere!"
I kick the wooden desk out of frustration and open the system menu again, flicking through the options and looking around for anything to give me a hint as to what I'm doing wrong. After a bit of flailing around, I click on an arrow icon underneath the Skills section, opening another set of information.
[Stats – Bakma Ji-in]
▪ Strength (STR): 2
Physical might, lifting power, and attack force.
▪ Agility (AGI): 3
Speed, reaction time, balance, and footwork.
▪ Endurance (END): 5
Stamina, durability, and resistance to injury or fatigue.
▪ Perception (PER): 2
Awareness of surroundings, combat intuition, and detection of intent.
▪ Willpower (WIL): 3
Determination, mental resilience, and cultivation focus.
▪ Talent:F-
Innate potential for martial arts and cultivation. Grades range from F to EX.
What the hell is this? Why is everything so low? And why is my Talent F–? Is that why my cultivation is so slow? Aghh! There has to be a way to raise that, isn't there? Maybe if I press on it, it'll tell me more.
[Would you like to reset to increase your talent?]
Reset? What does that mean? Well, whatever. I might as well try it."Yes."
[Notice: Due to low progression, Talent will not increase.]
I don't get it. Is it talking about my cultivation progression? Well, I guess that would make sense since I'm only at 5%. Guess I'll just have to go about it the slow way. This is gonna suck. What am I going to do about supplies once I'm out? Guess I'll go back to stealing. Maybe I can get by with that and work on cultivation.
I let out a defeated sigh as I sit back down on the hard wooden bed. The sheets are far too thin to get comfortable, but it's better than the ground. I activate the skill again and stare blankly at the screen as the percentage slowly rises. Hour after hour passes, and the progression barely moves. Eventually, I get tired and close my eyes—that's when I start to feel the energy the skill is circulating.
It's like tiny pinpricks pushing against my skin. It's incredibly slow, yet I can feel the movement. I wonder if I can make it move faster. Locking onto the feeling, I slowly and steadily guide it faster, pulling more and more in until I can't anymore. There's more out there, just out of reach, but nothing I do brings it closer. This must be because of my talent. If I had to guess, I'm only getting 5% of what I could be.
After a while, I get frustrated at my own lack of talent, opening my eyes to see the system window displaying my skills list. My Qi Circulation rose by 10%? Looking out the window, I see that the sun is rising once again. Guess it's been a full day—but 10% progress in a day? If I make the supplies last, I might be able to open my meridians before the water runs out.
Before I can get giddy, my growling stomach interrupts me, and I quickly jump off the bed and head to the sack of food, grabbing a handful of jerky and taking quick bites while continuing to look at the system window.
"Basic Qi Circulation? Does that mean there are more Qi Circulation skills? How do I get them? What other skills are there? This is so confusing—why couldn't there be a guide on how to use this thing?" I mutter in frustration.
After finishing the piece of jerky, I stand up and throw some punches, trying to get rid of the stiffness in my bones from sitting for an entire day. Then I look over at the door. Where even am I? I haven't been outside since I woke up. Maybe I should go out and check my surroundings.
I walk to the door and try twisting the handle—nothing. It won't budge. I rattle it some more, and still nothing. I bang my hand against it—yet still nothing.
I turn to the window and try opening the wooden shutters. Still nothing. It's like this place is trying to keep me locked in. Sitting back with a sigh of defeat and frustration, I start looking around the room again. Nothing. Again.
"How am I supposed to get out of here?" With nothing left to do, I sit back down and try to open my meridians again.
Once again—no luck.