Chapter 31

  The Cultivation Canundrum

  A new dawn, the fort was secure, the forest quiet, and the group was dedicating the entire day to understanding their new powers.

  "Stop!" Jimmy commanded.

  "We're wasting our time. Look at your progress."

  One by one, the group checked their internal displays.

  "I actually lost a couple of points," Kim said, rubbing her forehead.

  Kim looked at the water pot, but the 'pull' she felt earlier was gone.

  Her chest felt hollow, an empty shell in the space where her power had been swirling.

  Every droplet she'd danced in the air had weighed heavily on her fledgling Seed.

  "That is the problem," Jimmy confirmed, his eyes sharp with analysis."We are wasting it.”

  "We get raw Qi, which our bodies then process naturally into our Seed’s."

  "Compile enough, and form a Core.”

  "We're undoing the process every time we use a power," Chris summarized flatly.

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  "It's stopping our growth."

  "Exactly," Jimmy affirmed. "Our infant Affinities are leaky and costly.”

  Jaime looked to Dan, grabbing his arm, "Shouldn't we just let the Seed slowly build? Don't rush it?"

  Dan shook his head firmly.

  "No. We need to finish as fast as possible. I won’t be satisfied until I’m finished.”

  Jimmy closed his eyes, concentrating.

  "We need a different approach: Refinement.

  Since our current growth is too slow, we need to help it along."

  Eyes reopened, sharp with insight.

  "The next time we absorb Qi—from food or a kill—we must use any inspiration we may have to process it in a way that makes it merge faster and more seamlessly.”

  He stared at the sunbeams playing through the leaves.

  “More than likely, we will need to find our own unique method of refining that loose energy, pushing our Core Formation forward."

  Dan nodded, understanding the methodical, tedious approach.

  “We become train engineers, throwing coal into the furnace of the locomotive, just slowly building speed-"

  “Damnit Dan, you don't work at the railroad anymore.” Chris threw his hands up in disgust.

  “For all we know they don’t even exist anymore.”

  “...Yeah… But I like trains-”

  "Anyways," Jimmy interrupted.

  "This means we must be strong enough to resist the temptation to spend our energy."

  He looked at Chris.

  Dan loudly scratched his beard.

  “Hey Chris. You still don't have eyebrows.”