All thoughts about sleeping were thrown out the window after what had happened. Instead, Damien called out,
"Albert."
The spirit already knew. He'd listened to every word Virelius had said earlier—every barb, every warning. But Albert pretended otherwise, waiting patiently, letting Damien speak first.
"Tell me how I can embark on my path with the help of the system."
For once, Albert didn't start with his usual mocking or cryptic rambling. Realizing the seriousness in Damien's voice, he went straight to the point.
"Cultivation of Path of Strength involves developing strength and then gaining the control over it. For developing strength, meaning reaching higher ranks, you need to understand that every rank is just dividing the evolution into short term goals with focus on each step one at a time. From Rank 1 to Rank 9, it is about evolving your flesh, blood, bones, organs and muscles to reach the highest peak possible before ascending to Sainthood."
He continued, his tone steady and deliberate."If you achieve the goal of pushing a rank to its absolute limit before starting the next, you create more room for growth in the next stages. Think of the lower ranks as the foundation beams of a towering building—make those beams unshakable, and they will hold the weight of countless floors above. But if the first beam is weak, the higher you try to go, the sooner everything collapses."
"A strong foundation," Albert went on, "also means you can recover from wounds so severe they'd cripple lesser cultivators, and still carry on without damaging your future. Afterall, the stronger the foundation of a building, the more earthquakes it can withstand."
Damien's brow furrowed as the logic settled in. Rising through ranks quickly didn't necessarily mean talent. It could just as easily mean weak foundations. Of course, that wasn't the rule for everyone—there were always exceptions, and countless geniuses roamed the world.
Albert pressed on."The minimum progress needed to move from one rank to the next is sixty percent. Those who stop there have shallow roots and fragile strength. Your goal will be to reach one hundred percent in every rank. The system will not provide you with guidance for the next stage until you've reached the peak of the current one."
Damien leaned back slightly, mulling it over. He'd never had a clear ambition before, but this… this wasn't a bad place to start.
"So," he said at last, "what exactly do I need to do to reach the highest stage in every rank? I doubt it's easy if most people are content to move on at sixty percent. Honestly, I thought the real limit would be ninety."
Albert's response was calm, but carried weight."You think ninety percent is within reach of just anyone? Only those with top-tier cultivation techniques and extraordinary talent can touch that. There are rare resources that can help, but if your aim is perfection, it's better not to depend on them."
He paused, then added,"Talented people can reach eighty-five percent without much struggle, but from ninety upward? You need patience, unshakable determination, and absolute faith in your path. Qualities that are rare among those just starting—most are still children, untested by the world. By the time life hardens their will, they've already advanced to higher ranks without building a solid base."
What Damien didn't know was that this percentage scale wasn't calculated just for the Eldoria Continent—it spanned the entire universe. For most people in Eldoria, reaching eighty percent meant their foundation was already at its peak, and staying in the same rank any longer was considered a waste of time.
Albert's tone sharpened."It's even more difficult for those who follow the Path of Strength. They must constantly endure pain during their evolution. Most quit long before ninety percent—it's unrealistic to expect children to push through ever-increasing torment for no immediate reward. Hence why the path of Strength is on decline, their foundations being low and the ever increasing pain has made it rare for people to reach higher ranks."
He went on,
"Body cultivators—those on the Path of Strength—use aura to refine their bodies. As the body strengthens, it produces and stores more aura, which in turn can be used for further refinement. For a Body cultivator, aura is as vital as essence is to a Mystic cultivator—the ones on the Path of Energy. Aura fuels body arts, just as essence fuels spells. Cultivation techniques and these arts are the twin engines that drive growth of a cultivator and it is built on aura and essence."
Damien's focus began to drift. He'd asked how to start cultivating, not for an entire lecture on the theory. Catching the look on his face, Albert rolled his eyes.
All Body cultivators are the same, he thought. They just want to skip straight to the part where they hit things.
"Fine," Albert said aloud. "I'll explain what you need to do now, at Rank 1, to reach perfection."
Finally, Damien thought.
"Rank 1 is where your body must reach the absolute peak of mortal potential. Every muscle, every bone, every fiber—pushed to its utmost limit before true evolution begins. Your aura's role at this stage is to speed the process, healing your tired and damaged body after each training session. You will train, heal, and repeat—over and over—until you reach one hundred percent progress. The system will guide your aura flow and help refine your control, so you waste as little as possible. For a Body cultivator, control over your strength is second only to strength itself."
Albert's voice dropped into something almost meaningful."And it's not just for combat. Control matters if you want to live peacefully among others."
Damien blinked. "Live with people? What—"
Albert smirked."Let's say you're… 'playing' with your wife. Without control, you might crush her by accident."
Damien froze. The image that popped into his head made him shiver. Then confusion replaced the chill."Why would adults even play? And I'm not planning to have a wife anytime soon."
Albert's smirk vanished. Silence stretched. He stared at Damien for a long moment, opened his mouth… then shut it again.
You— The thought cut off. For the first time, it hit him what living as a loner in an orphanage, with no one to talk to, really meant. The kid genuinely didn't know.
Well, I'm not going to be the one to burst that bubble, Albert decided. Might make for some entertaining situations in the future. Hehehe…
Damien tilted his head slightly, wondering why Albert had gone quiet so suddenly.