I waited in the diner for a few more minutes. Jesters were hunting me, and I wanted to know if they still had my scent. Thirty minutes passed. If any Jesters were looking for me, I doubted they were in Landfall. I finished one more drink, paid my tab, and stood up.

Ding!

A celebratory gong sounded off. I looked around to see if others had heard it. They hadn't. They were playing it off a lot slicker than me if they had. Maybe it was a local thing or another alarm for the ships. Alternatively, it could've been in my head.

Calypso System Updated. Would you like to see?

That confirmed it. I sat back down and opened my mind's eye. Information of all kinds displayed in an organized manner. The numbers, levels, and rankings seemed all made up—built off a new path. It was a bit overwhelming.

"Boom!" Cal said, excitement on full display. "We have revamped the cultivation system. It is too bad this is all stuck in your mind. We could revolutionize the world."

"Calypso System?"

"Cal 2.0 was too convoluted."

"This is better?" I didn't mean to come in doubting and regretted my question. If I could pull it back into my lips, I would. Cal didn't seem to care. Small consolation.

"Mildly," Cal said. "We like the ring it has."

I withheld the comment, directing the conversation to the new system. "I don't understand much of this. I should be level fifteen… not twenty-five."

"We'll break it down line by line," Cal said. "Starting at the top."

Power: 22+

"Power is your overall strength. The calculation includes rank, techniques, gear score, and other progression factors such as reforgement and bound elemental." As Cal explained power levels, a picture of a cultivator appeared.

The cultivator was level one, just at the beginning of his journey. His level was made clear by his weak build, lack of aura, and the 'Level one' label above his head.

"A power score of one equals that of a fully awakened being." The level one above the projected being turned to a five—the number was off by two since three was the known level of a fully awakened being. "This means he has cultivated three essences of either mind, body, or spirit, bound an element to his soul, and has filled it with mana."

This was basic information. Cal wouldn't be taking the time to explain it if he wasn't trying to establish a base of understanding. A refresher on basics never hurt, so I let him drag on without interruption. It helped that information was shared in fractions of a second. It was less a conversation and more a pile of information getting shoved into my mind.

"The level five cultivator is capable of basic mana manipulation, and compared to a level one individual or regular beast, he is ten times stronger. However, as far as our power ranking goes—level five, a page, is only at the power score of one.

"His power score will remain at one until he reaches his next stage of progression, which happens at level ten, or he improves his gear, or has a powerful technique."

Heavy metal armor adorned the spinning image, and his body blazed with yellow fire—a rare burning body technique used by smokers. The heat was that of a typical campfire. A power score label appeared above the cultivator's level. It had increased by twenty percent. His score was one point two.

As the image increased in rank, his fire aura burned hotter, and his power level increased.

The image reached a breakthrough at level ten. The labels above his head updated with his growth. His power score was now two, and his aura burned orange with the intensity of a bonfire.

Rank: Rook. Level: 10. Power: 2.

The score increased by one at level fifteen, and the flame was a dark orange. It gave off the heat of a burning house.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Rank: Squire. Level 15. Power: 3.

At twenty, the cultivator burned red-orange. It was as if I stood inside the burning house.

Rank: Knight. Level 20. Power: 4.

As expected, there was a drastic change once the cultivator reached the rank of a templar. The fire burned bright red. Its heat was that of a burning forest. There was more substance to the mana as well.

Rank: Disciple. Level 25. Power: 8.

Now, at the templar rank, the power increase slowed down. Which was an accurate portrayal of Templars. The difference between a disciple and a deacon could be bridged with gear and technique. However, the fight would still be skewed in favor of the deacon. They had more mana and most likely were better at using it.

Rank: Deacon. Level: 30. Power: 8.5.

With each new templar rank, the forest fire grew, as did the intensity of the heat.

Rank: Bishop. Level: 35. Power: 9.

Rank: Cardinal. Level: 40. Power: 9.5.

Rank: Apostle: Level: 45. Power: 10.

The aura was now that of a massive forest fire. It burned blue and almost looked solid. It felt like I was in the middle of the fire, or rather, I was the fuel. The energetic flame craved more. Its desire to burn was a deep passion. One that feared to give in but could not resist. Burn. Burn. Burn. Its crackles seemed to chant.

As amazed by the power of the apostle ranked templar as I was, it paled compared to that of a sage. The aura nearly doubled the size of the apostles; its heat was the intensity of a forge. Blue flames flickered with a purple hue.

Rank: Sage: Level: 50. Power: 15 - 25 (+5, +10, +15).

"At the sage rank, power level takes a turn," Cal said. "The straightforward progression is thrown off. Instead of working on internal or external layers of the soul, sages refine the soul. There were three known ranks of refinement: copper, silver, and gold. Each rank gained boosted the cultivator's power level by five.

"Cultivators do not need to be at level forty-five to start the refinement. Often, pure essence builds will start their refinement as soon as they reach level fifteen."

Cal didn't say that maybe only a handful of cultivators refined an essence as low as the squire rank. A handful might even be generous. I could think of two out of all the history I studied. The Alderi Emperor and The High King of the Elves. It was more common for cultivators to wait until they became deacons and had six layers on their souls. Even that was rare. The more layers on a soul, the easier refinement became.

The burning man's body was sculpted into a cultivator that was on the body's path. Muscles rippled across his thick body. His skin was tough as stone, and his weight had a gravity to it. Fast. Powerful. Pure.

As his body essence refined, his entire tone intensified. Muscle fiber strengthened. Bones became unbreakable. He was strong before, yet with each consecutive rank, he became more powerful. It was like watching a pebble grow into a stone and then a boulder.

The squire had a power rank of eight at the copper refinement rank, putting him at the same rank as a disciple. A silver refinement increased the squire's power to thirteen. At gold, his power was eighteen. It was funny seeing the squire rank so powerfully.

As a knight, I felt far stronger than I ever did. I was more attuned to water. Rather than feeling like a foreign power existed inside me, it was a part of me. Water was bound to my soul. Naturally, seeing the squire with absurd levels of power was mind-bending. There was an ocean of power between the gold-rank squire and my former knight rank. The thought would be unimaginable if I hadn't experienced refinement myself.

The information was fascinating. I could spend hours theory-crafting and coming up with different builds. At the end of the day, though, it was just numbers and stats. They wouldn't get me any closer to my goal… at least not that I could see.

"I used to think there was only one path to power," Cal said as he guessed the conclusion I'd come to. "My people zealously cultivated only the path of the mind. We found a way to turn the essence into mana. With the power of the mind alone, we conquered worlds. We stood at the top of power, never once defeated…"

Until the scourge came along… and then when the flayens faced my world. The words were left unsaid.

"I have learned much since my fall." Cal dismissed the image of the cultivator. He looked up at me. His eyes were bright and eager. "There are many paths to power."

I nodded, though I couldn't quite see Cal's point or why he seemed so passionate about it.

"I am trying to say I analyzed your projected path."

I held back a sigh, waiting for the following words to come.

"I think your pursuit of balance will make you an unrivaled powerhouse." Cal summoned a new image. This time, he had an exact replica of me, and then he created another cultivator with flayen features. "When refinement occurs, the soul is transformed. It becomes… better, for lack of words, like a stone turning to a diamond or iron becoming steel.

"Typically, refinement happens in stages. The cultivator obtains copper rank when he has a high enough level. If he wants a better rank, he needs to reach a higher level… he needs more essence added to his soul—not that the amount of essence determines the rank; it just helps. If he is skilled in the essence, he can reach gold. If not, he will settle for silver until he has enough essence to undergo another attempt at refinement."

The conjured flayen was level 45 and had a power level of 25. Next to the sage is my clone. My clone is also level 45, but his power level fluctuates between 35 and 55. The gap between the power levels between the two sages was eye-opening.

"If you reach just the copper level of refinement for body and spirit, you will have ten levels of power higher than the strongest sage. You might even be on level ground with mages…"

"Selene's breath," I mumbled under my breath. I could be very powerful.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.