After Noboru became Yori's apprentice, he could finally move out of his pathetic house in the impoverished parts of city and move into the central building of the first stronghold, exactly as he had planned.
He rested his body intensely for a few days following the fight with the monster. He required it desperately.
Once these had passed, his training started.
Yori led him out to one of the gardens of the central building the day his training commenced.
The garden was beautiful. It had high walls on all sides, therefore no one could enter or even just look inside without permission. The only gate to this garden was one that is part of the central building after all.
Green grass and a few small trees in the corners filled it, making the scenery beautiful and calming. To Noboru it was the first time seeing such a gorgeous place.
Grass and trees can't naturally grow because the city is underground without sunlight.
This led him to conclude that at least one mediocre Enlightened with a plant based primary element resided in the central building.
"I can tell by your constant glances, Noboru. It must be odd to you. Seeing a garden this well kept and beautiful for the first time. I felt the same when I first saw this place."
Yori smiled and laughed gently, finding his subtle curiousity endearing as he walked with his apprentice.
Noboru on the contrary was annoyed on the inside. He despised the way he was always analysed when he was with Yori. Showing his emotions wasn't possible by any means for it would be most likely considered disrespectful.
He was still merely an ordinary 16 year old mortal. He was by no means strong enough to have a say in anything.
His status of being Yori's apprentice could be revoked as easily as it was given. No resources would be wasted just yet.
In this garden, a large rock, about two and a half metres wide, two metres long and about a metre in height was sitting tranquilly in the middle of a small and extremely shallow pond.
The old master jumped on top of the stone with elegance and sat down in a lotus position, his hands facing down and placed on his knees.
Noboru sat at the edge of the pond, the exact same way as Yori did.
"I must warn you. Just so that you won't feel impatience or anger in your heart later on, you becoming an Enlightened will have to wait for now."
"Why, master?"
"Cultivating isn't a process that you should be taught by doing it. You must know some basics beforehand. I would be a terrible master if I wouldn't prepare you."
"I suppose."
It wasn't unexpected by Noboru. Of course, he desired to ascend as quickly as he possibly could but, in truth, he knew barely anything about cultivation at all. This lesson, while sparking his youthful impatience, would be an important one.
"I take it that you're completely unfamiliar with anything. Hence, I'll explain everything necessary for you to know currently."
Noboru gave a small nod as a response, confirming that he wasn't familiar with the basic knowledge yet.
"As I thought. The first thing you must know is the way how someone can become an Enlightened. I won't bore you and describe to you in detail that one either has to accept the essence of a relative into their body or touch a specific stone, which often also gets referred to as an ascender stone."
"As soon as you accept the essence into your body and allow it to become your own, no matter which source that essence came from, you will feel your own soul form inside your body. Everyone has a soul, but not everyone can feel it. This ability is unique to the Enlightened people. The place it appears is different for each person. Inside of it, most of your essence will be stored. It is also where your essence replenishes itself naturally. Wherever it appears, that body part of yours will become your core. If it gets cut off from the rest of your body, you will become a mere mortal once more. You can get your soul back and become just as strong as before simply by absorbing it from the cut off body piece which it is in."
"You will also need to pick your primary element."
"Picking ones primary element is easy for the most part but it is different than how many think it would be."
"As soon as you ascend, you will pass out and enter a comatose state during which your consciousness gets transported into a realm like no other. It will be a white and endless landscape. Abscent of sounds and other details that a normal world would possess."
"In this landscape, you will find dozens of elements lying around, floating around or moving around depending on which it is. These will vary in quantity and quality."
Yori's voice became scratchy, his voice aching. Due to his old age, he could not talk for an extended period of time without issues. He stopped talking all of a sudden for around 5 minutes, leaving Noboru in silence, before resuming his lesson without warning.
"All of the primary elements you can see in the mentioned landscape are the ones you can choose as your own. Nobody can choose between every possible one. Each body is only compatible with a couple after all."
"The compatibility between these elements vary greatly. The higher the quality and quantity, the higher is the person's compatibility with the respective element. Choosing the one you are most compatible with is the go to choice for most and the one I heavily recommend to you."
"Most that do not choose that element have other reasons such as picking a certain type of element to uphold the honour of their family by choosing the element which they are known and recognised for. Some servants pick a less compatible primary element as either a symbol of inferiority to their master or to support them more easily in battle."
As Noboru listened intently, he couldn't help but mock these people internally. They were all mere pawns in his eyes. The moment they chose the wrong primary element, they threw their lives away. Noboru would naturally choose the primary element that is best suited for him.
"Actually choosing the primary element is as easy as detecting your best fit. One merely needs to get into physical contact with it and allow it to envelop oneself's body. Just like that, you will wake up from your comatose state and be an Enlightened rank 1."
Another short pause is required for Yori's voice after which he resumed.
"At that point, cultivating will finally be possible."
"It is possible to choose a secondary element if you find more ascender stones and use them for yourself. The process will be exactly the same only that this time, your primary element won't appear in this landscape. Secondary elements can naturally never achieve the same strength as your primary element. Choosing one that either eliminates one of your weaknesses or compliments your primary element is the wisest choice without a doubt."
"This is only something very experienced and strong Enlightened should even consider. It costs a lot of essence to use more than a single element in battle, thus making it no valid option for most."
"Speaking of experience, you won't simply cultivate to a higher rank merely by existing. If that was the case, I would outrank all of the Enlightened in the first stronghold."
"You need to meditate and focus on the flow of your essence and your soul during every meditation."
"You must use every ounce of it, not to enhance or nurture your soul, but to shatter it into pieces. Once a soul is shattered, you won't be able to use any essence nor your element for a short while, effectively making you a mortal aside from your enhanced endurance and durability."
"You must reshape, recreate and repair your shattered soul, fuelling it with massive amounts of essence. Once it is fully in tact again, your rank will increase by one and you will be able to use your element once again."
"During this period of time, resting is wise."
"While your soul is shattered, it still continues to produce essence. Very much of it. Around twice as much to be precise. The increased amount is a result of the soul's desperate attempt at fixing itself."
"Each cultivation to a higher rank brings a risk alongside it. You are defenceless during the period and it may cause massive changes in you. You are recreating your soul after all. That is why many do not attempt to cultivate further after they reach a certain rank which they are content with."
Yet again, Noboru couldn't help but deem those people useless weaklings. Not taking risks and staying weaker than one could is something he would never even think about. It is an extremely dumb decision to Noboru. One that keeps you from reaching your goals.
"This lesson is over now, Noboru. If you have any questions, you may ask them anytime."
Yori's voice was completely sore by now. Talking this much, while necessary, was also extremely taxing on his vocal cords. He got up and jumped onto the edge of the pond next to Noboru who got onto his feet just like his master did.
"This lesson is not the only one I wish to teach you today, Noboru. Let's continue this training elsewhere. Please follow."
Yori looked very content and excited for what was coming, making Noboru feel a small pang of trepidation as he followed along.