"Alright," Albert finally spoke after setting aside his amused thoughts, "whenever you want the system to guide you, just say—or think—'System, activate cultivation mode.' It will scan your body, understand your condition, and guide you accordingly."
Without hesitation, Damien thought the words aloud in his mind.System, activate cultivation mode.
[Scanning host to determine the best guidance suited for host… Scanning complete.]
[It is determined that host should exercise until all muscles ache with pain. Continue as long as possible, then—using the System's cultivation mode—revolve aura around the whole body to heal.]
[Currently, host's body is not in pain. Guidance cannot be provided.]
It was exactly as Albert had explained earlier. Apparently, before the system could help, he needed to start sweating—hard. Wasting no time, Damien began going through the exercises he'd learned in school.
Half an hour later, his breathing had grown ragged. He was about to stop when Albert's voice cut in."I advise you to keep going until you can't move. Being just a little short of breath and then using the system's guidance won't bring much change."
Gritting his teeth, Damien continued. Sweat poured down his back, soaking through his shirt until it clung to him like a second skin. His muscles trembled from exertion, each movement sending spikes of pain through his body. He had never been pushed to such extremes before—never endured this level of discomfort. Every breath came with a hiss, and it took all his willpower to stop himself from crying out.
Albert's voice came again, sharp and mocking."Is this all you've got? You were so eager to learn about cultivation, but just one hour of training and a little pain is enough to break you? Seems like Virelius wasn't wrong when he called you soft."
Damien didn't rise to the bait. He had already gone past what he believed his limits were. Yes, it was true—he couldn't handle pain well yet. But he knew this was only the beginning. There was no point in listening to the taunts of an irritable system spirit or a professor obsessed with 'ambition.'
He was a kid who had awakened just today. There was no shame in admitting he was weak now. The strength—and the tolerance for pain—would come with time. He would build it day by day, on his own terms.
****
Panting heavily, he finally muttered, "System… activate cultivation mode."
The moment the words left his lips, he felt it—a strange, powerful sensation. His awareness turned inward, as if he could see inside his own body. There was a subtle pull, urging him to move his aura along an unfamiliar path.
Following the system's guidance, Damien took control of his aura and let it flow along that path. But before he could even complete more than one revolution, his reserves were entirely drained.
Albert chuckled as he remembered how Damien felt that the system was useless when they were in the middle of teleportation.
"Remember the feeling of how you controlled your aura with the help of system and learn to control it. You could have used that much aura for 10 revolutions if you had complete control over it. That's the greatness of this system—it doesn't just tell you what to do, it lets you feel it. By directly performing each step, you learn through experience. Once you master one step, the system guides you to the next"
Damien was genuinely impressed. This was unlike anything he'd imagined. A system that refused to spoon-feed him, instead forcing him to work for every improvement—it was almost… admirable.
As the last strands of aura were spent, the pain in his body eased, replaced by a pleasant warmth that swept through him. The fatigue, however, still lingered. Perhaps it was because he'd only managed a single revolution.
"System interface," he said aloud after catching his breath.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[PATH SYSTEM]
Host: Damien
Current Stage: Rank 1 (3%)
Primary Path: Strength — Body Evolution
Secondary Path: Soul (Rank 0)
Core Attributes:
Might: 10 — Physical strength and destructive capability.
Endurance: 7 + 2 — Resistance to injury, fatigue, and pain.
Speed: 8 — Movement speed, agility, and reaction time.
Vitality: 10 — Life force and recovery rate.
Aura Control: 1% — The current control the host has over his aura.
Body Control: 45% — The current control the host has over his body.
Spells: —
Body Arts: —
Weapon Arts: —
Restrictions:
The System will not provide spells, Body Arts, or Weapon Arts.
Nightmares will intensify the stronger the host becomes. (Advance in the Path to avoid further complications.)
Host will not gain talents he does not already possess, nor receive help related to them.
System Directive: "Follow the guidance of the system to reach 100% progress in Rank 1. (No need to focus on learning or understanding cultivation techniques.)"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Hah, see? I told you to keep training for better results, but you stopped. You only got a three percent increase—and that's mostly in endurance. If you had listened to me, you'd have gained at least ten percent. Starting cultivation is the fastest growth phase." Albert's mocking tone returned in full force.
"Still… it's better than the new students. They'll waste weeks fumbling with cultivation techniques. Now do you realize the greatness of the sys—"
"System, mute Albert again." Damien cut him off without hesitation.
"Not AGA—"
Silence.
Finally free of the voice in his head, Damien studied the system interface carefully.
"Hmm… looks like Aura Control and Body Control progress bars appeared after Albert mentioned them. Guess knowing about something is one of the keys to unlocking system functions." He tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"My aura control's only at one percent, and the system guides me at ten percent right now. If I reach that, maybe it'll raise the target to twenty. As for body control… forty-five percent means I can barely use half of my current strength in combat. These monitors will be perfect for setting short-term goals."
Satisfied with what he'd learned, Damien stripped off his soaked shirt and lay down on the floor, pulling a pillow and bedsheet over himself. The bed was only a few feet away, but the cool floor felt more appealing after the heat of training.
It had been a long, exhausting day—a rollercoaster compared to the dull, monotonous life he'd lived until now.
His gaze drifted to the moon outside the window. The world beyond it felt impossibly vast, yet for the first time, he had a path to walk.
Within moments, sleep claimed him.