Throughout almost the whole week of the Fate Selection and the other procedures of this Academy that took place, Sam had gotten much more familiarized with the surroundings. He couldn't buy stuff, but he still explored the Capital City a bit more. The Academy provided a weekly teleportation pass to all pupils, only for the surroundings of the Capital City.
The Castle had already ascended when the Fate Selection ended, and now the City was much more brim with activity. With the incoming people from the other continents, it was more lively.
"Buy. Buy. Buy! Look towards these many different pills brought especially from the Western Continent. Look at this one, it will make your soul orbs easily nourished with the energies. Or look at this one, it will make your flesh be as solid as a rock."
"Couldn't harmonize with the Demonic Weapon Destiny? No matter! Here are some weapons from their lands. Although they aren't infused with Demonic Energies, but they are swift and resilient against any monsters."
"Look at this staff—"
"Here is a propulsion weapon—"
"The Silky-smooth clothes made from synthetic—"
"Hahh... There is so much.. but how can I even earn money to buy it?! Fuck this transmigration... Even though I like to be a loner, couldn't you have atleast attached me to a family or something? Or is there one and you are not telling me... Fucking forget it, I'm sure this bullshit system won't let me find out as it only answers the question it wants to.. Anyways, I better return to the Academy. Just window-shopping all these amazing things hurts my eyes and my soul.."
***
"Hey did you hear about the Orientation Week? It would be so fun right!"
"What do you think Master Zhu will show us? Do you think he'll show us his amazing Phoenix Spirit?!!"
"Stupid! This is an orientation week, not a show. Obviously they are here to remind us about the academy rules and bullshit."
"But still! The Four Masters will attend, don't you think they will do something special other than standing and looking at us."
"Hm.. I agree, they might give us an introduction to our Destinies. Which one did you get again?"
"Oh man... I only got the Enlightenment one.. I don't want to be anywhere near that deathly man.."
"Too bad for you buddy, Master Jiro will give me the intro about the Demonic Weapon Destiny. I hope he can give me some pointers about the mace Techniques."
"Oh who's talking now. Did you forget, I have Two! Cultivation and Magic. Think of how I'll get to attend both sessions by Master Zhu and Miss Ivory. Hmph."
"Oh shut up bro.. I know you are into elves right.."
"No! I mean yes.. But Don't disrespect my Miss Ivory like that. Didn't you see how kind she was! And I don't mean it like that, after all she is decades older than me..."
"Oh yeah, then what about how you melted infront of her when she gave you that staff bead... Hehe have you even linked with it? Or just kept it to smell it.."
Sam rushed through the Academy Halls...'What the actual fuck. Are kids usually like this? Or are they just early teenage hormones... What kind of wierd academy have I entered?.. Although She did look so kind... No! I'm not like that.'
***
The Grand Priest spoke on the stage. "As the Grand Priest, I welcome again this batch of Learners with Brilliant Future in their destinies. Now, as you may know, The Fate Selection is officially over and The Imperial Academy welcomes you all for this Amazing Journey you will recieve here. From hereon, I won't mince any words and will now regard you each as talented individuals. The Empire would help you with many things, but you all know that without effort even the smallest task is hard to accomplish. As you all can see the diversity around you, the opportunity Our Emperor has provided on the basis that all the continents mingle and accept each other. In that same way, no matter who is with you, they will still be your comrades in the future, regardless of what fated path you may step upon."
Then suddenly the Four Masters appeared with their respective unique entry onto the stage. Master Zhu appeared out of fire, Master Jiro appeared out of a misty fog, Miss Ivory appeared in a grassy enclosure spell and Master Ego teleported smoothly with a new form of technology. The Grand Priest continued, "The Four Renowned Masters will preside over this Academy as Headmasters of their respective Destinies and will Guide you all from time to time along with your own teachers. For this time, they will be conducting the Orientation Week! They will introduce you to the Destinies and naturally you will also be given the Basic Tasks respectively. The Imperial Academy is not that lenient, and although we observe you each as talented individuals, you will still have to be shaped, taught, and engraved in your bones on how to polish your talents and become more prominent. That's all. But remember that you are not here just as yourselves, but also as an important part of the empire in this Academy. Your talents may be outshoned by others giving you chance to striving upon working harder, Your efforts will be rewarded, and consequently there will be disciplinary actions for misconduct. My only advice is for you to refine yourself and your talents so much as to appear lustrous and Grand like Our Own Emperor!"
"The Orientation Week will commence hereon!"
Chaotic Cheers erupted from kids, meanwhile Sam was cringed by this sort of speech. Lucius wasn't seen in the crowd by anyone, and that blue haired girl was also nowhere to be found.
***
The following day. Fortunately, Sam managed to get a place in the first of the first orientation of the destiny he wanted to get the introduction of, and also what was possible with his info from the academy kids and their talks, about the Cultivation one. As usual, there would be many kids that they may be handled in sessions of each destiny, but he got a turn for the cultivation one. As he was going along with the murmurs of the crowded children in the Academy Hallways, his gaze fell upon the room for Master Jiro's orientation class. He was peeking inside while going along, and he managed to get a good look at the master. Weirdly enough, Jiro also sensed and stared back at Sam, and he sort of knew that it was him that the master wanted to glare upon.
'What the.. Why is he looking at me like that? Did I do something?? Ohh.. better stay away from these masters and hope this orientation week gets over quickly.' Sam nervously skipped and entered the open courtyard in a hurry.
***
Zhu Xi Ping was standing on the raised platform as the kids sat upright on the floor directly. He instructed that all of them sit like that for posture correction, no matter if someone had discomfort.
The master initiated on explaining about the Spirit Cultivation. All kids listened intently with awe and Sam had a bored look. He had previously skimmed over a few lines from the basics given by the system, but he still listened to either compare it from the system, or to see if the system missed something.
"Spirit Cultivation! The Destiny of Western Continent and which I still see as the Greatest Destiny regardless of what anyone might say. You can achieve wonders with the complex techniques of it, and also become the strongest gradually and also directly from it. The Path of Cultivation is difficult, But it still gives rewards for every bit of effort you put in. With just a little bit of luck and the enormous amounts of effort, you can achieve great heights in this destiny."
"Now you all maybe thinking right. Spirit Cultivation is exactly two things, Spirits and Cultivation. Let me explain about the Cultivation part first as it's the easiest thing to train in. All of you have unlocked your Soul Orbs in any Distinct part of your body. The Soul Orb is how you harness the powers of cultivation. Since there are many types of Energies in the air, Cultivation is based on mainly the Qi Energy. The Qi could also be in many different forms, but it is still mainly used to nourish your soul orb."
"As you become mindful and train your Soul Orbs day by day, it will harden, and ultimately advance into a completely new form! This Cultivation is for you to follow a path where you rigorously train your Soul Orb daily and on each step of advancement, you will form more Soul Orbs!! There are exactly 16 Orbs In the Main Parts of your body, which you will get to know as you advance..."
At that moment the System sounded in Sam's head abruptly.
[ There are actually 17 Soul Orbs in the Spirit Cultivation Destiny. ]
[ The 17th one is engraved in the heart of the body and is usually.. hidden. ]
'Hm?.. a 17th Orb? And it's hidden?.. what does that mean. If it is so, then why didn't that master tell us about it.. Maybe I'll ask him later.' Sam thought and connected back to reality.
In the middle of his speech that Sam didn't hear, Master Zhu's skin then suddenly caught on a deep red fire that looked like as if he was holding back immeasurable amount of flames. From the flames, came upon an impressive bird like creature that was almost quadruple the size of the master and had even redder body and was more fiery than his flames. It went in the air with a 'whoosh' sound and all the kids got excited at this sight. The creature then came back and flapped it's fiery wings at the back rows of kids and flew straight towards its master, disappearing into his endless flames.
"As I was saying... The Spirit part is something that will be the most important and impressive part of your cultivation. It will be even harder to train, bond, and drawing power from your spirit. It may take many years to bond with a powerful spirit, or much less a few months if you are lucky. Spirits can also come in many forms, but you should mainly attain a Spirit of any Animal, Beast or Monster that died not too long ago. Remember! The more powerful your spirit, and the more powerful your connection with it, then it will be a done deal for you to become the strongest!!"
"That's all for my introduction to you all talented individuals towards our Destiny. For the following week, your cultivation teachers and I, Myself will also be nearby, to clear all your doubts and to impart few knowledge on how to improve upon your cultivation. But! I will only show face towards the Kids who are ready to set your beliefs to sticking to this simple Cultivation Path. Which leads to the most important thing for me to say now, which is about your tasks.."
"For the following week, your task is to find and absorb your one special Spirit in your Soul Orb. You may use any method to find it, but to absorb it in your soul orb, is to bond with it properly. Make it feel as a part of you, and if you are lucky, the spirit will itself take your soul orb as a home."
"Which comes to the final point I want to make before you disperse. I will answer the doubts of only those who manage to bond with a spirit within this week. Which also describes your standing within the cultivation destiny. The stronger your bond and the stronger your spirit, the stronger you will be. I won't mince any words, so you will also be divided in Distinct groups for your classes. The ones with powerful spirits will be placed into a special class, that I, Myself will also come and teach a few times. Naturally, the ones with weak bonds and spirits will be placed in lower classes. This doesn't mean you'll get less care, but just that the atmosphere itself will dictate how your Fate is in this Destiny. Weak People will get thrown away, while only the most Prominent Talents will rise! That is the Cultivation Way, and that is how I want to teach you all."
"If you want to become prominent, then bond with powerful spirits, take good care of it and rigorously follow cultivation path. Just with this alone, you can achieve unimaginable wonders."
"That's all! Now Disperse and go back in the hall."
As the children started leaving, Sam stayed back. He slipped through unnoticed and managed to catch the attention of the Master before he left.
"Master Zhu!" At this point the kids had already left so no attention would come to him from screaming, other than that of the mentioned person.
"Hm.. Whoever it is, didn't I say that I wouldn't give face until you bond with a spirit." The Master still turned to look at Sam with a deep sigh.
"I'm really sorry, Master Zhu. But I wanted to ask if the Heart is also considered a Soul Orb, heh.. You know since you mentioned 16 Parts?"
At that point the man suddenly become alarmed. He caught Sam's hand and started squeezing it. "Where did you hear it?! Are you affiliated with the Eastern Continent? Or Have you come from there?! Answer it right now!"
"Urgh. What the! Fuck... Master you are breaking my arm! Please.. Let go..." Sam recieved the message from the system that it was about to activate failsafe, and if it did then he would really become suspicious. He answered on a whim, "..it's just... You said.. That they form in.. M-Main Parts of the body... The Heart isn't considered that part? I was just asking that... I'm sorry. Please let go.."
The Master suddenly came back to his composure and instantly healed the arm of the boy. "Oh.. is that so. Sorry, I was thinking about something else. No matter, The Heart Cannot contain a Soul Orb. Instead the areas around the two lungs combine to form a similar effect as Soul Orbs for it. If you hear something about it, then come to me straight away. Now go!"
"Hahh... Alright..." Sam hurriedly ran to the gates and The Master kept glaring at him.