"Now, about the formation on your armour," Kate said. "I want Alan to install a switch—so you can disable hypersensitivity when needed. And the opposite—dull your senses if the situation calls for it."
I paused, thinking it over.
Turning off sensitivity? That sounded great. Less strain on my nerves while walking to the garden. And when work got hectic, the formation could be more of a hindrance than a help.
But dulling my senses? What for? To block out pain?
I tensed slightly, trying to figure out what Kate had in mind.
"It’s for training," she said.
"I’m already training…" I replied, unconvinced.
"You learned to sense Fist Qi through heightened perception. Now, repeat that in a normal state, with the formation inactive—and then, when your senses are dulled. The better you can feel Fist Qi, the faster you’ll master Chain Punch or any other fist technique. And on top of that, it'll help if you ever have to fight under extreme conditions. By second period, you’ll get plenty of chances to experience that crap." Kate grimaced. "Might as well get used to it now."
"Are we still doing this in the Fist Garden?" I asked. "Most of my time there goes into picking flowers. And Diego’s been giving me weird looks ever since my last ‘enlightenment.’"
"Got a better idea?"
"I could observe your training—focus on sensing."
"Right now, I’m only working on Unyielding Fist of the Thunder God." Kate shook her head. "Terrible name, but solid technique. From the name alone, you should be able to guess—"
"Two-component. Fist and lightning."
"Exactly."
"Well then…" I exhaled heavily, leaning back in my chair. "Guess I’m destined to pick flowers."
"Could be worse."
"Oh, on that, I completely agree." A shudder ran through me as déjà vu struck—the kind that came with dying screams and the stench of corpses. "I just didn’t want to get distracted."
"Good relations with 098 will pay off when you start using essence. Root grows best in the garden, and for that, you need permission—as you already know."
"Actually, I don’t. I thought cultivation there was forbidden."
"It is allowed only after taking essence. Don't rush it—master at least one technique first."
"Got it," I agreed, immediately messaging Alan about the upgrade.
As I typed, the Liang Shi assistants’ chat came to life. A fight had broken out in the block.
Two cadets took each other out, a third jumped in and got himself knocked down as well, and Kowalski, apparently, got caught up in the mess—it was his shift, and he’d been the only assistant supervisor on duty. In the heat of the moment, he demanded that Liang Shi slap 10 penalty points on everyone involved, which obviously didn’t sit well with our boss. Instead, Liang Shi gave the troublemakers 4 points each—and fined Kowalski the same amount.
Looked like things were getting lively over there. Good thing I had such calm shifts.
Alan replied, saying the formation upgrade would cost me 5k—since it wasn’t the free adjustment he’d promised, but a whole lot of work for pocket change. For some reason, I got the feeling he worded it that way so I wouldn’t try to haggle.
I checked with Kate and, sure enough, didn’t bother negotiating.
Alan told me to bring my armour in the morning, so first thing after breakfast, I dropped it off.
And the first thing Alan did? He asked:
"Why are you wearing a ring with demonic script?"
This was getting old.
"Found it in the metro," I replied.
"Right." Alan snorted, shifting the incense stick from one corner of his mouth to the other. The smoke continued curling lazily around his head. "And I suppose you found a fourth-stage shield in the metro too?"If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
No idea how he noticed it, but at least he didn’t seem inclined to kill me over it. Still, just in case, I shot Novak a message about his reaction.
The rest of the day passed without incident.
Without my armour, I was stuck indoors. And with my reassessment coming up, I didn’t risk doing anything new—no gym, no experiments. I spent the whole day lying on my bed.
Twenty-four hours later, I picked up my gear.
Alan showed me how to switch between formation modes—something that would take practice. But I wasn’t about to stress over it—I had a reassessment ahead of me, and that mattered more than my armour.
We’d scheduled it for 18:20, and I was worried something might kick off in the block during my shift—like what happened to Kowalski two days ago.
Luckily, nothing did.
Around six, I finished my Pure Thoughts tea. And with a clear head, I headed to the Meditation Hall.
Inside, I scanned the room for Kate and Diego—mostly for Diego, since his horns made him easier to spot.
They’d picked out a chamber for me at the very back of the hall. Literally the last one—No. 50.
"Ready?" Kate asked, sounding tense.
"As much as I can be," I said. Though, thanks to the tea, I was probably less nervous than her.
Wong raised a sceptical brow but said nothing. Instead, she simply nodded toward the chamber.
"Get in."
"Hold up a sec!" Diego cut in, sending a payment request to my interface. "You already used your free session this week."
"There’s no amount listed," I said.
"How should I know how long you’ll last? That’s the whole point of a reassessment."
I nodded, confirmed the payment, and stepped into the chamber.
Diego watched as I lay down, bending my legs with my knees up. He waited until I got comfortable, then said,
"Work the same way you did last time. Stay focused, don’t think about the time. I’ll be monitoring your stats in real time. If something goes wrong—I’ll pull you out."
"Then let’s begin."
The heavy metal door shut behind me, cutting the corridor light in half. Meanwhile, the blue glow from the grated panel above grew stronger. I closed my eyes.
At first, everything felt familiar. I let myself relax, allowing the Qi waves to wash over me. The flow was strong but smooth—like gentle ocean waves, lifting me, rocking me. I knew what to do.
I didn’t resist, didn’t try to control the process. I just accepted the energy. It poured into me, spreading through every muscle, every cell, making everything inside me hum in unison. I felt my Qi expanding, filling the gaps, reinforcing my channels.
This time, it wasn’t just not painful—it was almost pleasurable, like my body had grown used to scalding-hot water and had learned to enjoy it. As if the Qi was becoming a part of me.
Wave after wave, I drifted beneath a gentle sun—until it started to burn.
Something had changed.
I didn’t realise it right away. With each new wave, the intensity grew—just a fraction. The rocking turned into a serious toss. Staying afloat became harder. It felt less like the waves were carrying me and more like they were trying to drag me under.
Tension built inside me. Instincts screamed at me to fight back, and suppressing them was getting harder.
A storm had taken hold of me, tossing me up, down, left, right. The waves slammed into me—hard, scorching. The ocean illusion shattered, and I was back—lying on the metal grate, pinned beneath the weight of searing energy.
A thought crept into my head—I needed to stop this, signal Diego before I messed up my cultivation.
But I couldn’t.
Every part of me was focused on distancing myself from the pain—on staying still, on not interfering with the force tearing through my body and soul.
I knew all too well—resisting the flow would only make it worse. All I could do was hope Diego was actually watching my stats—and not wasting time chatting with Kate!
I nearly burst with frustration.
Then, just as I reached my breaking point, the Qi flow began to settle. The feverish heat faded, but the sensation of hot water against my skin—like my first time in the chamber—remained.
I opened my eyes just as the light behind the grate dimmed.
My clothes were soaked through with sweat.
Breathing was hard, my heartbeat pounded in my ears, and my muscles trembled.
"Jake!?"
Kate’s worried voice crackled through the speaker.
I croaked out a "’m fine" through a parched throat, realised it sounded nothing like actual words, and tried lifting my hand instead.
Better. Slightly.
Though my thumb trembled like a lone blade of grass in the wind.
The chamber doors hissed open, releasing me. The light in the corridor was blindingly bright, the air—far too cold after the storm I’d just been tossed from.
"You look like hell."
Kate leaned over me, her face genuinely concerned.
"’m fine," I mumbled, this time more coherently. "Not ready to go again, though."
I sat up, trying to steady my breathing. It felt like I’d pushed myself to the edge of collapse on a treadmill—black spots dancing in my vision.
"Congratulations!" Diego cut in. "You hit the approved limit—doubled your last record. Thirty minutes in the flow. Your stats were pushing the edge, but you didn’t cross any danger zones."
"So I can officially book the chamber for thirty minutes now?"
"Technically, yes. But I’d recommend capping your next session at twenty-five. That’s what you can handle without overloading."
"What do you think, mentor?" I turned to Kate, who was still watching me intently.
"I think I’m impressed," she said slowly.
I raised an eyebrow. The compliment sounded sincere—but she was quick to slip back into her strict mentor persona.
"Next time, you cultivate alone—no sooner than four days from now.” She glanced at Diego, who nodded firmly, reinforcing her stance. "So twenty-five. No more."
Diego just chuckled.
We said our goodbyes, and Kate walked me home. She didn’t push, didn’t fill the silence with unnecessary conversation—just stayed by my side, offering a shoulder to lean on.
Back in the block, she attracted quite a few curious glances. Girls weren’t exactly a common sight here. I hadn’t seen a single one before now.
"You sure you’re okay?" she asked again when we reached my door.
"Positive," I assured her, peeling myself off her shoulder. A damp sweat stain marked the fabric.
"I’ll be fine. You can go."
I pushed the door open.
Both my roommates were inside.
"Oh, right," I remembered. "Marlon wanted to thank you for the mentor thing."
"Well, you… passed that along fast!" Marlon said.
Denis jumped up from his bed.
"Oh, noble lady, would you happen to have a mentor for me as well?"
"Unfortunately, no," Kate shook her head. "I don’t know anyone with Palm Qi I could recommend."