Interlude - Pathseeker Classroom (Patreon)

“Good evening, class.”

“Good evening, Mister Carlo,” the students answered. This time, there were more people in the classroom than usual.

The teacher was not really in front of the students. It was just a projected image. The real Carlo was far away outside of the Biome. Still, the students could see and hear him just fine and the opposite was also true.

“Tim, Gwen, Luca. Long time no see. The three of you appear to be healthy and well. This is good.”

“Thank you for accepting our request suddenly, teacher. Even though you are always busy after the meeting,” Gwen said.

“Nonsense! I can always make time for earnest students eager to learn,” Carlo smiled. “Also, greetings to the rest of you. Welcome to this place of learning. Now, without further ado, let us begin. Tim, Gwen, and Luca, you three have been studying at the heart of Latias’ cradle of knowledge. I have reviewed what you have learned and now, I shall explain to you more deeply about the path you wish to travel in a few years.”

Carlo began explaining.

“It is not recommended to disclose the Path of Power to ones too young. It led to many cases where they recklessly began the journey before their bodies were ready, leading to unfortunate outcomes. This is known as early awakening. Something familiar to you all by now.”

“Brother Boram turned out to be alright,” Tim commented. “Ow!”

Tim looked at his mother who was standing at the side. He felt his head was hit by a fist even though his mother didn't move or close enough to hit him.

Carlo picked up Jessica the Star was using her unique power to hit Tim using just her energy. Intriguing.

“You should already be bored hearing this by now but no forging your Intio before the age of fifteen. Or do you think yourself to be better than countless numbers of your elders throughout history? Reckless children who ignored the warnings wouldn't be able to survive on this dangerous path anyway. Most likely, you will die young so might as well save yourself the trouble and not begin at all.”

“I get it. I get it,” Tim stroked his head to alleviate the pain.

“We’ll begin with the very basics, affinity. You are all born with a certain affinity. This is what first determines if you are fit to become a Pathseeker or not. Some children are born with high affinity, some with weak affinity. For example, wind 1 is the weakest and wind 5 affinity is the strongest, strictly in terms of affinity. Affinity makes your corresponding Arte stronger and easier to use. Wind 1 also limits your progression to Level 1, wind 3 to Level 3, and so on. Affinity is a very integral part of a Pathseeker’s being.”

“Man, I can't wait to find out what my affinity is. I hope it’s a cool one, and 5. 4 is good too,” Tim nonchalantly said.

“My sister has water affinity so I might have water too,” Gwen spoke her mind.

Luca didn't say anything but her shadow shifted slightly.

Of Carlo’s three students, Luca obviously had the highest affinity. Hers was so strong that it didn't take skill or items to pick up the signs, darkness 5. It seemed Viers also gave her a method to already nurture her ability and made her stabilize it since he was ten years old. Such a method was usually reserved for the kids of the wealthy because of its rarity. If she was proven to have the right mental disposition then she would become a great Pathseeker.

The Magician’s sister, Gwen, had a high affinity. According to his fellow club member, her little sister was more talented than her. Of course, the Magician already outgrew her initial affinity and raised her ability. What Gwen's affinity was, was still unclear but according to his estimation, more or less an affinity of 4.

The problem was Tim, the Star’s son. Carlo felt bad about the boy but his highest affinity should be around 1, 2 at most. Quite a low standard. Sometimes this could mean he had a rare affinity that was hard to detect and that affinity might be high but it was a very rare case.

The Star was aware of this and already searching for affinity-boosting items through Carlo and other ways. Even if she had to pay an exorbitant sum, she was determined for her son. Truly touching.

“No Gwen, you are not guaranteed to have the same affinity with your sister. Even among twins, their affinity can be different. Of course, there are cases when it can also be the same. It is the wonder of life. Some clans use special techniques to push their descendants towards a certain affinity. It can be done but it is quite resource-heavy.”

“Your Pathseeker journey truly begins when you make your Intio, your cultivation core. This makes you a Level 0. To become Level 1 you have to draw the ambient mana from your surroundings and store it inside your Intio. When your Intio is filled to the brim, you break it apart and reforge it anew. If successful you raise your Level by one, if you fail horribly, you must restart from scratch or even become heavily injured.”

“This process is more or less the same up to Level 2, but to become Level 3, you’ll need something called the Profound Codex. It is a technique manual that leads to the creation of something called the Unreality Field. The mark of a Level 3 Pathseeker. There are a lot of Profound Codices, the bad ones can only lead you to Level 3 or 4 and no further. Make sure you’re very careful when choosing to commit to your Profound Codex.”

“To review, how high your affinity is and your Profound Codex limits you to the maximum Level that you can reach. It’s a given you always want higher affinity and Profound Codex but these things were heavily regulated by those in power. They aren't readily available in stores, mind.”

“Aww, that sucks,” Tim pouted.

“Because it is important to do so, young Tim. Level 3 Pathseekers had great power. It is in the best interest of the rulers to keep their numbers in check. If there are no regulations, things can get messy very fast. Can you imagine if everyone did everything they wanted? How dangerous would it be if you lived in a lawless city like that?”

The three kids think in silence.

“So for your sake, for your loved ones, and for others, never disabuse the power you possess,” Carlo added.

Of course, there are cases where the powerful used this as an excuse to oppress the masses but Carlo didn't tell the kids that for now.

“Let us continue. If you talk about Pathseekers you’ll also talk about their Artes, their wondrous and magical techniques. Artes are up to the Pathseeker, they can be anything from a simple swing of a wooden stick to moving the clouds. But if your Artes are too weak or useless, it will only bring shame upon you.”

“You can create an Arte yourself. There are stories of masters studying the movement of wind or the nature of fire to create divine techniques. Or, you can also learn the Artes of your predecessors or teachers. In a more extreme case, you steal them from others. Copy their Arte after observing them and do it yourself. This is also a sign of your ability. Although, I would not advise you to do that. People, or that people’s organization won't like their Artes to be used without their permission.”

“The most popular method of getting an Arte is by using a monster core. Meditate with a core and then get an epiphany about the monster which you then recreated the monster’s special ability in an Arte.”

“Artes are all well and good but without Victa, even the greatest of Artes are useless. What is Victa, Luca? Can you answer it?”

“Victa is a personalized mana created by the Intio. Pathseekers cannot use the raw mana of our surroundings directly to cast their Arte but it is much easier and efficient using their Victa. This is exclusive to the human race.”

“Luca is correct. Other races might not need Victa to use their Artes and some beings manipulate certain elements as easily as breathing. Only humans utilize Intio and Victa as part of their Path of Power. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. Gwen, what are the characteristics of Victa?”

“Let’s see… Intio created Victa ceaselessly. There is no limit to how much Victa we can store. The higher your Level, the greater the quality of your Victa, making your Arte stronger with less amount of Victa.”

“Very good. But even though Pathseeker had a limitless supply of Victa, you’ll find how insufficient your Victa generation is. Every Pathseeker struggles with Victa usage. You might think that if you don't have enough, then just don't use your Arte. Well, it’s not that simple. There is a saying that wars are won on the training ground. You need to train your Artes and hone them instead of only using them in the heat of battle. Using your Artes unskillfully can lead to a backlash, or you giving an opening to your opponent, leading to a defeat, or worse.”

“Ask any experienced Pathseekers and they say they trained their Arte tens or even hundreds of times, burning a ton of Victa in the process. They optimized them with each training, making them hit harder, faster to cast, cost less Victa, et cetera. The more Artes you have the greater your burden. This is why Victa generation techniques are some of the most coveted in the Pathseeker world. Those who had it, like the Silver Legion, guarded their secret like a dragon guarding its hoard.”

Others in the classroom besides the three kids heard Carlo’s teaching and remembered their own struggles and grueling training. The sweat and blood they shed for making their Artes just a little bit better.

“Some Artes are stronger than others, better from the start, but having better Artes isn't all about in Pathseeker battles. For example, a crucial factor in my homeland of Zetel is your maximal ability to put your Victa into an Arte. Imagine this, your Victa is a pond of water, you only have a small scoop to draw that water and utilize it. If you have a bigger scoop, you can make your Arte stronger simply by feeding it more Victa. This is the simplest way of making your Arte stronger. We call this study Maximum Victa Draw. Sounds easy right? But it is easier said than done.”

“In the end, there are almost endless ways to improve yourselves. Diligence is golden. I believe this is enough for today. Are there any questions?”

“Teacher, what about the abilities of Levels 3 and 4?” Gwen raised her hand.

“And 5,” Luca added.

“Yeah, yeah!” Tim shouted.

“Those are still too early for you. I’ll simply summarize that at Level 3, you begin to bend the world to your will using Unreality Field. At Level 4, it evolved to Imaginary Domain with a greater range and potency. Inside your Domain, you impose your rule on the world, giving you a serious advantage over your enemies. At higher Levels, Unreality Field and Imaginary Domain utilization can be argued as more important than Artes.”

“As for you kids, tempering yourself is important. Fill your head with more knowledge and strengthen your muscles. How fast you run can be the difference between life and death once you become a Pathseeker. Like when you encounter a dangerous monster way stronger than you can handle. The higher your physical ability, the higher the benefit when strengthening yourself using Victa. That concludes today’s lesson.”

After the kids said their goodbyes, Jessica the Star approached him for a thank you. Carlo thought Jessica was like a colleague. Then he greeted the others before he stopped the projection’s connection.

“Apologies for only saying basic knowledge,” Carlo said to two girls wearing exotic clothes. One of them was the Lovers.

“Not at all. Your teaching is helpful,” Sakuya said.

“Yeah, our basics are a bit different. This is good,” Yayoi followed.

“I’m happy to be of service. Until next time, ladies.”

After the figure of Carlo disappeared, Clarissa approached Sakuya.

“You know there’s a big tournament tomorrow, right? Farley got a spot. Paina and I are going but we’ve still got an empty slot. What do you think? Are you up for it?”

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[A light-hearted chapter before the big arc. So I got a review a few months ago saying the cultivation system in this novel is hard to follow since the information is sporadically spread throughout the chapters. Hope this makes things clearer. Or do you feel this is redundant instead? Let me know.]