"300 years ago, the number of sects was very low, and most of them were suppressed by the kingdoms and empires of that time," the old man narrated. "That was until the First Invasion happened."
"Spatial Cracks appeared everywhere in the world, with millions of monsters coming out of them. No one understood where or why these monsters appeared, but they began attacking and devouring humans."
"Humans tried to resist, but they were not trained to kill monsters. Also, the difference in numbers was huge, since only cultivators could fight them. In a single month, half of humanity was wiped out. Most of them were commoners, but a large number of cultivators also died."
Desper was shocked. 'Half of humanity was killed in a single month?! Then how did they survive?!'
However, he didn't interrupt the instructor and kept listening.
"At that point, all humans decided to put their egos aside and unite to repel the invaders. After a year of cries, screams, and blood, humanity somehow managed to win the war, but only ten percent survived."
The old man took a deep breath and continued.
"Unfortunately, humans couldn't rest for long, because after 150 years, the Second Invasion began. However, this time humans were ready. They had formed many sects and established strict systems and regulations."
The old man ended the story. "And here we are—the remaining ten percent—resisting the Second Invasion for almost 150 years."
Desper frowned. 'That's it?'
He thought there would be more to the story, but the instructor had already finished. The more he thought about it, the deeper his frown became, until he couldn't hold himself back anymore.
"Yes?" the old man said when he saw Desper raising his hand.
"I can't understand," Desper said. "Assuming that the First Invasion was at the same level as the Second Invasion, how could we—the remaining ten percent—resist it if ninety percent died in the first one? Even if the sects were ready, that still doesn't make sense."
Desper's question made the other four disciples fall into deep thought. The old man also looked at Desper in surprise, but his face soon returned to its indifferent expression.
"That is not important."
"Huh?!" Desper was startled.
The instructor sighed and said, "It doesn't matter whether the story is true or not. The whole purpose of it is to tell you that our duty is to fight the monsters invading our world. What happened in the past ended in the past. We only care about the present."
Desper opened his mouth, but no words came out. He held his head in annoyance. Many questions, no answers.
The instructor changed the topic.
"Next, we will talk about cultivation. All of you are here because you have awakened your Origin, the strange sphere in your stomach."
Desper's eyes widened when he heard that. He even thought he had heard it wrong, but the old man clearly pointed to his own stomach while saying it. The problem was that Desper's Origin was clearly inside his chest.
'Calm down, Desper,' he tried to suppress his nervousness. 'It might be related to that Svikari Bloodline or whatever.'
He decided to ignore it for now and kept listening.
"The first level is called the Channel Forming Level. In this level, you will strengthen your body by forming Channels from your Origin into your bones, muscles, and organs respectively. Because of that, this level is divided into three stages: Bone Cultivation, Muscle Cultivation, and Organ Cultivation."
"The sect will give you a period of three months before sending you on any mission. These three months are enough for you to cultivate all of your bones and enter the Muscle Cultivation stage."
The instructor then warned them, "Once you start, you can't stop. There is a phenomenon called Channel Collapse. It happens when you neglect your cultivation for a long time. The channels you formed will collapse and disappear from your body. You can form them again quickly, but you will suffer greatly before that."
"Imagine that the channels in your bones collapse, and you try to throw a punch using muscles that still have channels. Simply put, your bones will shatter."
Desper shivered as he imagined that.
"That is the end of your lecture. All of you, come and take one of these books and leave. Remember to focus on your cultivation and your training if you don't want to die during your first mission."
After that, the old man left the class.
Everyone did as he told them and took one of the books.
Desper picked one up and noticed that it was quite small. "New Disciples Book" was written on its cover. He opened it and read a little. The book explained important information about monsters and gave a brief explanation of the missions he would start participating in after three months.
…
15 minutes later
Desper returned to his new home. He was inside an empty room. No noise from the outside could be heard, as the room was designed for disciples to cultivate without disturbances. It was called the Silent Room.
His eyes were closed as he focused on the sphere inside his chest. He followed the old man's instructions and controlled the Essence within his Origin, pushing it toward a single point on the Origin's wall.
The wall tried to resist, but Desper kept pushing more and more Essence into the same point. Eventually, the wall gave in, and that point began stretching outward.
After a while, Desper opened his eyes again. Inside his chest, a small channel had formed, connecting his Origin to his spine. This channel branched into two other small channels: one going upward and the other downward.
No matter how hard he tried to push more Essence into them, they showed no further change.
"I think this is my limit for today," he muttered.
Then he picked up his token and looked at its back.
"What?!"
He discovered that he had been cultivating for eight hours straight without even noticing.
"That is…"
He was shocked. At the same time, he felt relieved. He had been afraid that the unusual position of his Origin would affect his cultivation.
Fortunately, nothing happened.
With nothing else to do, he picked up the New Disciples Book and read it until it was time to sleep.
…
The next day
Knock… knock… knock…
Desper woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his door.
"Yo." The man outside waved his hand, smiling.
Desper nodded and let him in.
Varik didn't sit down. "Let's not waste time."
"What should I do?" Desper asked.
As promised, Varik came today to teach Desper how to control his Svikari Power and to tell him more about the clan.
Varik pointed at the ground. "Sit there and relax your body completely."
Desper didn't feel comfortable doing that, but he wasn't worried. Varik wouldn't dare to do anything to him inside the sect unless he wanted to be executed.
After sitting on the ground, Varik placed his hand on Desper's shoulder.
At first, Desper didn't feel anything, but a few seconds later, a warm sensation rose from his stomach, slowly spreading through his body. It was much slower than yesterday. In his eyes, green veins appeared, creeping toward their centers.
"I will remove my control over your power. You should try to control it and not let it overwhelm you."
Desper didn't understand and wanted to ask him how to do that, but in the next moment, the strange power in his stomach burst out. He felt as if a tsunami had erupted inside him. The veins in his eyes stretched rapidly.
His body was filled with energy and felt much stronger, but he didn't allow these sensations to make him lose focus. He clenched his teeth and tried to control it with all his will.
Somehow, he succeeded, but it was like placing a small rock in front of a raging river.
More power flooded his body. When the veins reached the blackness of his eyes, Desper felt as if millions of needles were piercing his head. At that moment, he felt as though he might die.
Suddenly, the tsunami of power receded, and the pain in his head gradually faded until it disappeared.
Desper fell to the ground, gasping for air.
Varik chuckled. "How weak. Stand up; we've only just started."
"That is really hard… and too painful."
"Don't worry," Varik reassured him. "That's only because we're at the beginning."
Desper rested for a few seconds, and then they repeated the process again and again.
An hour passed. Desper was drenched in sweat. The world seemed to spin around him. His muscles twitched strangely, and he could barely open his eyes.
"That is enough for today," Varik said as he walked toward the door.
"Wait!"
Desper somehow forced himself to stand up.
"Hm? Do you want something?"
Desper spoke with difficulty. "You told me that you would tell me more about the clan."
"What do you want to know?"
"Huh? Is that really a question? I want to know everything." After testing the power, Desper became eager to learn more about the clan.
Varik shook his head. "Even I don't know much about the clan. All I know is that our clan committed many disasters in the past. Ten years ago, a huge internal conflict erupted within the clan. One faction wanted us to stop doing evil things, while the other wanted to continue. The conflict quickly turned into an internal war. Unfortunately, the good faction lost."
Then he looked into Desper's confused eyes. "You and I are some of the remnants of the good faction."
While speaking, Varik's eyes twitched slightly as he recalled old memories.
On the other hand, Desper narrowed his eyes. "Are you kidding me? Is that some kind of childish story you just made up?"
"Huh?" Varik looked surprised.
Desper scoffed. "Oh yeah, our clan committed many disasters, but we—the 'good faction'—wanted to stop it but died as heroes. And now you and I are the remnants who will stop them with the power of friendship."
He sneered. "That's ridiculous. How do you even know that I'm from the good faction like you?"
Varik gave him a sharp look.
"You don't know how heavy our sins are, Desper."
Desper replied indifferently, "Please, enlighten me."
Varik said quietly, "We have many sins, but the worst of them is that…"
He paused for a moment before finishing.
"We were the ones responsible for the Second Invasion."
"What?!" Desper's eyes widened. He wished it was another joke.
The Second Invasion? The reason why people were dying every day? The reason why Desper's village was destroyed? The reason why Amal was killed?
Varik was saying that all of that happened because of his clan?! His family?!
"Sigh…" Varik shook his head. "300 years ago, humans couldn't defend themselves against the First Invasion. When they killed some monsters, more and more would appear from the Spatial Cracks. It was a hopeless struggle."
Desper's heart was beating rapidly. That was the question he had asked yesterday, but the instructor couldn't answer.
Varik continued.
"So they had to think of another solution. They created a huge array that strengthened space itself so that Spatial Cracks wouldn't appear. It was brilliant and very successful. For 150 years, no new cracks appeared."
"Then, 150 years ago, our clan decided that 'it was enough.' They knew the array required maintenance every five years, and the only ones capable of doing that were Spatial Cultivators, who were already extremely rare. So our clan decided to kill every Spatial Cultivator and destroy their inheritance."
"You can guess what happened next. The array still exists, but it grows weaker every five years. Because of that, more and more monsters are appearing."
He took a deep breath and said,
"If higher forces don't find another solution, humanity will eventually become extinct."
After saying that, Varik walked out the door, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.
Desper remained on the ground, shivering, stuttering,
"What… is… going on… with my life?"