Chapter 2: A New World; A New Life

When they regain consciousness, there are a few things they are acutely aware of: they are reliant upon each other in this world. Alone, they will perish. Another is that they are paired so that her physical power matches and balances his mental strength. Thirdly, this world is filled with magic, cultivation practices, and monsters. In many ways, this place can be compared to Chinese martial arts movies like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” or “House of Daggers,” or even “Kill Bill.”

They will need to begin cultivating their cores. In Brandon’s case, he will need to cultivate his Mental core in order to use his newfound comprehension. Tracy will need to work on her Root core for strength and endurance to go with the knowledge now embedded in her head. The wisdom they’ve been given suggests they both cultivate their Heart cores, too.

Brandon’s Mental core ties in with the manipulation of Mana and magic, which is the path his book has set him on. The Root core relates to physical strength and endurance and will help Tracy has she becomes a body cultivating martial artist. The Heart core will allow them to become less reliant on food, water, and air as it becomes stronger.

It is possible to cultivate all three cores, but doing so takes a lot more effort. A dual-core is more than the majority who cultivate achieve, but that is what the books have instructed them to do, to give them the best chance at surviving.

The safe zone will exist for 24 hours from the time they take their pills. At the time they begin cultivating, they have 20 hours remaining. For the duration, they will find that there is an abundance of Qi around them. This is a situation they cannot expect to encounter again anytime soon.

With their new understanding, they sit facing one another in Lotus and follow the guidance of the instructions implanted in their brains and begin.

Breathing in Qi with each breath and then drawing it through their meridians into their cores sounds easy. However, since knowledge is not the same as experience or practice, it takes them close to four hours to get the hang of it before they begin to fill their cores with Qi. By the end of the allotted time, they have filled all three of their cores full of a fine mist of Qi. It is a good start, but a long way from what they will eventually need to achieve in this world.

When the time is up, the two of them hear a notification. “Your Safe Zone has expired. You have reached the novice level of core cultivation. You will need to compress the Qi in your cores until you have three drops to advance further.”

“Okay, Tracy, let’s get moving. We’re not safe here any longer.”

“Sounds good to me,” she replies as she looks to him to take the lead.

For all the information the books imparted, they did not provide any maps or clues to help them decide which way to go. Without any guidance, Brandon picks a direction at random and starts walking. Tracy moves to his side and takes his hand in hers.