Rahman and I didn’t part ways until the evening. We even had dinner together, and I finally introduced her to the guys. I didn’t introduce her as my girlfriend, though! I just said we’re gonna stick together for some time. Let them speculate all they want. It’s not like we acted like a couple!
When evening came, I finally let Nur go — and freed myself from her too. Never thought the company of an attractive girl could be so exhausting.
Turns out? Oh yes, it could.
Sure, I liked her physically, but in my head, she was still kind of a kid. Kate, now — she was something else. Shorter than Nur by a head, but two years older. Still, I had no chance with Kate. Honestly, I didn’t have a chance with anyone this year. Right now, I just needed to stay in the school. And, ideally, stay alive.
The next morning, Rahman came back with a seven in her Fist Root.
I blinked at her in disbelief and messaged Kate with a question: Why can’t I use my essence?
She replied with something about efficiency — that with good understanding of Fist Qi, you could squeeze four points out of just three ampoules. And that once you hit fifteen, the pattern starts to stand out. Since my Fist Root was already at twenty-six, wasting ampoules didn’t make sense.
So I asked Rahman if she planned to stop taking essence once she reached fifteen.
She just shrugged and said she’d do whatever she was told. She hadn’t wanted the injections in the first place. Then she added that it was time to get to the Fist Garden, not just sit around chatting.
In the Garden, she got hit with another migraine from Diego — but still asked for ten drones, like I had. She picked it up pretty fast. To be honest, it wasn’t that hard. But she still couldn’t feel the Fist Qi at all.
By that point, I could already sense weak techniques without a formation. She couldn’t even feel the “giants” — the ones that sent chills into my bones.
It really pissed her off.
Trying to cheer her up, I shared my experience and let slip something about the hypersensitivity formation. She asked if her “mysterious sponsor” might be kind enough to gift her one.
I texted Novak.
He replied:
“She’ll live without it.”
Nur sighed and got back to work.
All in all, the day passed quietly — until just before dinner. Kate messaged me to check if I’d remembered to drink tea before cultivation. Almost at the same time, the Liang Shi assistants' chat blew up with congratulations. Dubois had broken through the first bottleneck and now held fourth place in the first-period cultivation ranking with 685/2734.
My own Cultivation Level had just dropped from 414 to 330.
What a beautiful update — gave me a nice warm glow of confidence.
On the other hand, Nur and my guys were averaging 170. Except for Bao — he was still stuck at two.
I joined in the congratulations anyway. We didn’t talk much with Dubois, but he seemed alright — and not congratulating him would’ve been plain rude.
I let Rahman go right after dinner. My roommates — aside from Bao, who seemed hellbent on earning every point in existence and had signed up for some shady night shift — were all already home. So I had no excuse to keep Nur hanging around. Plus, we needed a break from each other.
Next I:
21:50 — brewed a pot of Pure Thought.
22:00 — pushed Dubois out of my mind and replied to Kate’s latest message: “Nope, didn’t forget a thing!”
22:20 — stepped into the Flow Chamber.
22:46 — I stepped out. The gentle waves I’d been drifting on had vanished.
I didn’t feel any strain at all. Sure, by the end the “waves” got a little choppy, but I think I could’ve handled another five minutes easily.
22:47 — I got another message from Kate and called her.
“You could’ve just come, if you’re that worried,” I said, glancing around for Nur. She had a later slot, but with her short cultivation time, we should’ve come out nearly together. Besides, near one of the chambers, I noticed a doctor in a white coat leaning against the wall, scrolling through something on his tablet.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
A reassessment?
“I need to make sure you can cultivate on your own!” Kate declared.
“I can! I even wear a hat when it’s freezing out!”
“Ha-ha,” Kate snapped. “Put on your armour. The air’s thin in here.”
“Okay, mum, relax,” I said — just to wind her up a little. I couldn’t mess with Vaclav, after all. Not that she deserved it. “All right, seriously — cultivation went great. I could’ve lasted the full thirty, though it wouldn’t have been as easy. I’m not especially tired, but I’ll probably sleep like the dead. Oh!” I hadn’t even checked my new level yet.
“What?!” Kate asked sharply.
“Five thirty-eight. Cultivation level.”
“Bloody hell! Don’t scare me like that!”
“Didn’t mean to, sorry.”
“Your next session might be the breakthrough one,” she said — and then immediately shot that idea down. “Or maybe not. Now listen to me closely,” she added just as I spotted Nur coming out of the chamber — the one with the doctor nearby. She noticed me too and nodded.
“Laser-focused,” I replied, pointing to my ear to let her know I was on a call.
“I don’t want you trying for a breakthrough if you reach the bottleneck next time,” Kate said in that same ear.
“What? Why not?” I blurted out.
“Faster isn’t always better,” she said.
“Need I remind you we’re on the clock here? Whoever doesn’t keep up gets dropped. And four have already broken through,” I shot back.
“I bet they had crystals. Otherwise, one of them would’ve ended up with an injury. How’s your roommate, by the way? The one who reset to zero?”
“Two,” I muttered, watching Nur walk away with the unfamiliar doctor, who was now showing her something on his tablet. I couldn’t ignore Kate — the conversation was too important. And clearly, the doctor was here for the demon in Nur’s head. That had to be what the diagnostics were for.
“Doesn’t matter,” Kate said. “He got off easy. It can be much worse. To break through, you don’t just need the booster — you need a good reserve of undispersed qi. Or a crystal. If your reserve’s too low, you’ll end up injured.”
“So the crystal solves that problem, I take it?”
“You have a crystal?” Kate asked, surprised. “Where did you get it?”
“I don’t have a crystal,” I replied. “But does it have to be a single one, or could you use a bunch of half-drained ones? Like, say, ten crystals with one or two qi left in each?”
“And where exactly would you get those?” Kate asked suspiciously. “Jake, don’t do anything stupid. That’s barely worth three extra days. It won’t make a difference!”
“Uhum-m-m...” I agreed, but she didn’t like my tone.
“Jake!”
“Can I talk to the Doc about this? Or Diego. The fifteenth one. What are the risks, what’s what…”
“Of course,” she said, calming down. “And I’ll be there for your next cultivation session.”
“I thought you wanted me to learn to be more independent,” I joked, keeping my eyes on Nur. The doctor beside her was easier to track — white coat and all. They’d just exited the Meditation Hall and looked to be heading toward the medical wing.
“I did,” Kate said. “But I don’t think you understand the difference between wearing a hat in the cold and wrecking your whole life.”
“I promise to improve.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“No, seriously — I’m not planning to do anything dumb,” I assured her. “I know I don’t know what I’m doing, so your advice takes priority. If the Doc or Diego suggest something different — we’ll talk about it. But I won’t do anything without you.”
Kate paused for dramatic effect, then muttered, “We’ll see,” and hung up.
I finally managed to focus on Nur.
Outgoing message: N. A. Rahman
Subject: Migraine
Content: Everything okay?
Rahman received the message, read it, then glanced back and gestured for me to come over. According to the interface, the doctor next to her was listed as F. Bulsara, cultivation level: Golden Core. Whether that was true or just a cover, I had no idea — but just in case, I greeted him politely.
“Good evening, Doctor.”
“Stay healthy,” he muttered, waving his tablet at me dismissively. Then turned back to Nur. “Friend of yours?”
Rahman rolled her eyes, then confirmed with a fake smile.
“Yes, Doctor. My boyfriend.”
“Ease off the sarcasm,” he said flatly. “The Wastelands aren’t far.”
“Sorry,” she said, shifting into a more serious tone. “So, what about my 'migraine?' Is the Flow going to make it worse?”
“As I said, we still need to analyse the data. But it doesn’t look like it. Normal brainwave activity.” He showed her some chart on his tablet. “It’s a shame, really — we didn’t manage to capture the onset of the migraine. That would’ve been very helpful.”
“Yeah…” I shut up just in time.
“Go on, cadet,” the doctor ordered.
“Sometimes, her migraines are triggered by thinhorns.”
“Seriously?” the doctor raised an eyebrow.
“He triggers them too, sometimes,” Nur added, pointing at me. “But not always.”
“Well, I think we’ve got a few minutes to test that before bedtime. You’re dismissed, young man. And you, young lady — come with me. We’ve got thinhorns galore in the medblock.”
Nothing left to do, so I said goodbye and headed off. Still, the crystal question kept itching at me.
Outgoing message: R. P. Robinson
Subject: You awake?
Content: Got 5 minutes to talk?
Doc called back.
“What is it?” he asked. “Don’t tell me you’ve got flowers again.”
“No flowers yet, sorry. I’ve got a question about that magic box full of shiny little stones you showed me in your office during my first test.”
“Jake, that box had maybe fifteen units of qi total. If it were one crystal, sure, it’d be worth something. But like this…”
“I’m getting close to the first bottleneck, and my mentor is strictly against me trying a breakthrough if I hit it during my next Flow Chamber session.”
“A smart warning... No need to explain further — I get what you’re thinking. Unfortunately, it all depends on how much free qi you’ll have left. I can’t say anything until you actually reach the bottleneck. Come see me right after the Chamber — we’ll do measurements and assess the risks. And keep a breakthrough booster on hand, just in case: Pleomax A1.2, not A1.56.”
“Got it…”
I wanted to ask a few more things, but a new window popped up right in front of me.
Incoming call: V. Novak
Accept / Decline
“Thanks, Doc! I’ve got another call coming in.”
I hung up and answered Novak. He was clearly pissed off. Just the sound of his voice — even without any aura pressure — was enough to make me clench my butt.
“What the hell did you say to Kate that she’s backing out of the expedition?!” he barked. “We’ve got a brilliant team! It’s the perfect chance for her to grab some crystals!”
“I didn’t say anything! Honestly! She’s just worried I’ll hit the bottleneck next time and try to break through.”
“Then call her and swear you won’t!”
“Um… Sir, can we maybe talk about this?”