'I cannot believe him. He dangled the manuals in front of my face telling me how I could "become the strongest" and put them into my void ring, wait no, probably into the space ring in my void ring.'
'How the hell did he even realise I had a void ring?
'Didn't Grandpa say they wouldn't find it?'
Valerio placed his thumb and index finger on his forehead as he sighed, 'I swear, I'll hit Tier 7 faster than you did and dangle the same manuals in your face.'
A spark lit up in Valerio's eyes, but he knew it was too early. Since he had said he would cultivate on his 18th birthday, that would be the day he cultivated, not any later, not any sooner.
He had to prepare.
He finally reached his patio, twisting the doorknob and entering his living room. Time passed in the blink of an eye as Valerio spent some time painting and crafting, slipping into his bed he opened a book he'd taken from the library, [Body and Soul Cultivation].
Body and Soul cultivation both consisted of 3 realms. The book began with explaining the first body realm, Vitality Awakening. Valerio's face twisted into anger as he continued to read, "though this realm is known as Constitution Formation. This is because upon fully awakening an innate physique/constitution, you will have entered the start of initial success. If desired, a physique/constitution could be forcefully awakened to reach Vitality Awakening."
The first soul realm was similar: Soul Awakening.
Valerio couldn't help but imagine running faster than birds could fly, jumping over rivers and mountains. He would be able to use Spiritual Lu, use spiritual sense, craft better, focus on rune theory more.
He struggled to suppress the excitement bubbling inside him. His palms were slick with sweat, adrenaline coursing through his veins as a newfound hunger for strength awakened within him. It felt primal, like a beast stirring from a deep slumber, ready to hunt.
Valerio shook his head with a smirk, finding his own nerves amusing.
'I can't be sweating over this.'
With a deep exhale, he laid his head onto the pillow, drifting into sleep almost instantly. His body, finally allowed rest, surrendered to exhaustion. Unbeknownst to Valerio, the awakening of his constitution had exacted a greater toll than he had realised.
***
Valerio woke up disoriented and thirsty, his body feeling lethargic and sheet marks all over his face. He blinked a few times to gather his thoughts and tried to sit up, however, he fell back onto his bed.
'Huh.'
It seemed his awakening wasn't priceless. His body refused to listen to him, it was as if his tendons had disconnected from his muscle tissue, leaving only a few strands. Though that wasn't too far from the truth, after all Valerio's cells had completely changed characteristics. If one were to peer into his cells, they would notice the ethereal characteristic they had, this was something that had come about because of Valerio's existence in two planes simultaneously. Additionally, his cells seemed to exert a pressure on the space around them, pulling their surroundings in. Though this pull seemed to only apply to the void plane, not the material plane.
As Valerio was immersed in the feeling of his body, he noticed a figure in his peripheral vision. Valerio reflexively snapped his neck to the right, his injuries flared up, a sharp pain assaulting his mind. He couldn't help but let out a muffled curse, earning himself a laugh from the figure in front of him.
"Morning Mr. Augustine, how are we feeling this fine morning?" his dad seemed to sincerely ask, the sarcasm almost tangible.
Valerio was about to reply with an untold amount of sarcasm, but he was interrupted, likely on purpose, by his dad.
"Catch!"
A blue marble flew towards him at an inconceivable speed, its existence seeming to disappear as it flew out of his father's fingers. By the time Valerio could make sense of it and track the small marble it was already too late.
Thack!
The marble landed square onto his forehead, sending him leaning back and slowly falling backward until his back was sprawled on his bedsheets since he didn't have any energy to get himself up.
"Pftt" a small chuckle escaped Maximus's lips.
Valerio could only seethe in annoyance as he lay and was ridiculed by his dad as the blue marble fell onto his lap. He begrudgingly ignored the screaming of his muscle as he reached for the marble.
'Eh?'
Where had its weight gone?
As if in protest of the injustice Valerio rubbed the spot on his forehead that had been hit with the marble. Why did it suddenly get lighter after hitting him?
Maximus's lips curled into a satisfied smile as an indigo tattoo materialised between Valerio's brows. The symbol—a perfect circle crossed by 2 thin straight lines—pierced the circumference in four directions, each point stretching just beyond the boundary. The indigo glow pulsed briefly before the tattoo faded, vanishing in less than a second as if it had never been there at all.
"That's a [Shifter's Lock], I made it so that you'd constantly be shifted towards the material plane. Even though Fluxara is safe, it's not good to parade around your talent. Above that, you can't control it enough to live a normal life right now."
"Alright, have fun resting, just so you know, I didn't get out of bed for 4 days after my awakening." Maximus took a step towards the bed yet vanished elsewhere.
'[Void Step]?' Valerio couldn't help but fantasize about using the same ability.
Valerio shook his head, his hearing catching up to reality, 'Wait what, 4 days??'
He immediately gave up on leaving his room anytime soon. Valerio ignored the cries of his muscles and reached for his nightstand, pulling out a square box and paintbrushes. Inside the box, a carefully arranged system of dividers created neat compartments, each holding a collection of small items nestled within the square slots between them.
This was a space box—similar to a space ring but of inferior quality. It could store inanimate objects but wouldn't stop the flow of time inside, the items could be pulled out easily, increasing back to their original size 2 to 3 seconds after pulling them out.
Valerio reached towards a small white rectangle and pinched it with his fingers, pulling it out. He then tossed the small rectangle in the air, as the object started its fall it abruptly increased in size, becoming a proper canvas. The next item Valerio pulled out was a hovering stand for the canvas. Since he was stuck here, he'd paint a few masterpieces.
Painting represented much more in higher planes than it did in mortal or lower planes. A painting could represent much more than a picture or view, masterpieces could give a perfect understanding of a drawn environment or even give insights into Lu. A well-drawn painting could even portray the concentration of elemental Lu in the painted location. It wasn't as simple as colours on a canvas, it was the will of the painter and how they saw the world.
Valerio had been called crazy for staying within the first plane and devoting himself to different professions, he undertook music, painting, rune mastery and Lu crafting. The number of fields he chased was another reason he'd never bothered to cultivate, it would mean he'd have less time for his hobbies.
He was not going to stop pursuing his passions.
Valerio's friends and family had told him he was foolish for refusing to advance through the stages and continue creating first-plane projects, in all of his hobbies. Yet he had insisted that he still had much more to learn, despite reaching and exceeding, for at least what it seemed to them, the upper limit of what could be done as a first planar. His parents simply didn't understand the depth of the first plane, there was something more to all of these professions than they understood.
He believed that the first plane, the one to set the foundation for his future cultivation and professions, was much more than just the first plane, there had to be more. He was sure of it.
Those around him had tried to tell him otherwise, but Valerio was uncaring about the opinions of others. Since he knew better, he would listen to himself. Thus, he continued to progress in his practices, unearthing more and more potential within the first plane than anyone that came before him, to his knowledge at least.