( Chapter 1 has been rewritten for improvement. Please reread it. )
When the front door opened, he could see nearly the entire apartment.
In the kitchen, a young man, about 18 years old, around 5'7" tall, handsome, and who could easily be mistaken for the wealthy son of a wealthy family, was setting a small table for four.
At the stove was a 14-year-old boy who was slightly shorter than the other. He had features reminiscent of Ethan's, but they were more refined and handsome. He was stirring pots from which a delicious aroma was wafting.
Beside him, a girl the same age was helping him with enthusiasm.
Watching this scene, Ethan from Earth was filled with feelings of longing and nostalgia. It had been years since he'd seen any of them, and even longer since he'd seen the girl.
His eyes filled with tears. In his heart, a heavy weight began to lift and was replaced by a determination not to let the tragedy repeat itself.
Eighteen-year-old Sam looked at the door and smiled.
"You took your time. I was starting to get worried. You know the city's been strangely restless lately."
Kailo, the teenager, also stopped and looked at his brother at the door. His face broke into a big smile.
"Brother, come on in. Are you going to stand there looking lost forever?"
Snapping out of his daze as the two approach, Ethan hides the tears welling up in his eyes and offers a silly reply.
"Haha. It's nothing. I'm just glad I got here before you started dinner!"
The girl, Dalia, laughs a little and feigns annoyance, complaining.
"Ethan, come on in. We've waited long enough for you. At this rate, dinner won't be ready until tomorrow."
Dalia is Uncle Carlos's daughter and their childhood friend. She's the same age as Kailo and has practically studied alongside him her whole life.
She's short in stature with shoulder-length brown hair, and Ethan describes her personality as that of a hyperactive little pest. She's also a little genius, ranking fifth in her exams.
She's also Kailo's girlfriend—at least in Ethan and Sam's minds.
Then Ethan finally walks in, sets the cake down on the small table, turns to his brother, hugs him, and lifts him up. Ethan is 6 feet tall, and Kailo is still a bit shorter than Sam, so it's easy for Ethan to lift him.
"This is my genius little brother. He placed first in school on the midterm exam and seventh in the whole city! The pride of this silly brother!"
Ethan spins around the room with his brother in his arms, laughing joyfully and spontaneously.
"Ethan, I know you're happy, but could you put me down? I'm already dizzy!"
Kailo says, his eyes already spinning.
Sam watches closely, a gentle smile on his face.
Dalia smiles proudly, as if she had earned those grades herself.
"Ethan, you have the rest of the night to spoil him. Let him come down."
Ethan reluctantly sets Kailo down. Then, he looks around.
The small apartment, no bigger than a studio, is tidy, mostly thanks to the two of them.
Though small and sparsely furnished, it feels completely like home and offers comfort.
They spent the next few hours chatting and congratulating Kailo and Dalia on their excellent test scores.
After a few hours, Uncle Carlos came to pick up Dalia. We cleaned up the mess, and then everyone went to bed. We had class the next day, so we couldn't stay up too late.
Lying on the couch, which was also his bed, Ethan began to reflect on this world and his situation. He started with his condition.
In a way, he was both the Ethan from Alva and the Ethan from Earth.
He couldn't explain it. He didn't know if memories from another life had awakened or if his
Earth self had merged with his Alva self. All he knew was that this was how it was and how it would remain.
His memories were still somewhat jumbled, especially from the first 18 years. After all, the two sets of memories share many similarities.
Sitting on the couch, perhaps driven by anxiety about what had happened, he decided to start meditating to calm his mind.
He sits upright on the sofa and focuses inward, trying to visualize his body and the paths his mana takes.
After years of research and development, humans have created increasingly sophisticated cultivation techniques. The most powerful techniques are monopolized by wealthy and powerful families, but the government freely distributes some of them.
Every child is taught the Basic Body Forging Technique at age seven. It doesn't have a very nice name, but even the children of the wealthiest families learn it.
As the name suggests, it's a technique designed to make the body more suited for mana cultivation. The more advanced one becomes in the technique, the better the body accepts and adapts to mana.
In other words, it enhances one's latent talent.
Naturally, the better the initial talent, the greater the result.
A good example is Ethan and his brother.
Ethan has poor talent and could only slightly improve his physique using the Basic Body Forging Technique when he was 18. His 14-year-old sister, however, has seen significant improvements in her physique and talent. She may be able to achieve even greater improvements before the technique stops working at age 21.
This technique only works until a person turns 21. After that, it cannot improve latent talent.
Even though Ethan was only three years left, he had little hope of improving much further.
Besides this technique, only one other is given for free to anyone.
It is given at age 13 at school or at any government facility: the Basic Mana Cultivation Technique.
It's called the Basic Mana Cultivation Technique. Yes, it's another name that draws little attention.
It is mainly used by those who can't afford a more advanced basic technique.
Those who cultivate using it can still go far in cultivation, but it's much harder.
There is no age limit, but there is a level limit. It can only reach up to the third level of cultivation.
Once they reach the end, they would have to seek out a more advanced technique on their own. One option is to join a company that hunts beasts for mana stones.
Ethan also trains with this technique and is currently at the second level. Kailo is at the end of the first level, but he only learned the technique a year ago.
To explain cultivation simply and superficially, a cultivator becomes stronger for three basic reasons.
First, an increase in the body's total mana affects how much mana they can use at a time.
Second, by putting more mana into their strikes, they technically become stronger.
Refine the body through the process of mana circulation. Mana nourishes and strengthens the body.
Perhaps the biggest difference between advanced and basic cultivation techniques is the refinement of one's mana within the body.
When a cultivator begins training, they accumulate mana in the body and create channels for it to flow through.
This is the first level of cultivation, the Body Forging Level, where only the physical body is improved.
At Level 2, a special core is formed within the body. This is where mana accumulates and anchors itself. At this point, the cultivator has reached the Core Forging Level.
They can accumulate and control mana within the core, but cannot expel it outside the body.
Once the cultivator can expel mana outside the body with minimal control, they enter the third level: the Soul Forging Level.
They begin to learn how to control mana outside the body. It is from this point onward that mages are born.
Techniques truly diverge only from the Soul Forging Level onward. This is when the cultivator chooses their class.
Some focus on cultivating the body in various ways, such as increasing endurance, strength, or speed.
Others become mages, focusing less on strengthening the body and more on the mind and mana. They shape mana into different forms and unleash spells of different elements.
The Basic Mana Cultivation Technique does not specialize in anything in particular. It leaves the path to follow up to the cultivator. However, it does not guarantee any advantage on the chosen path.
Each level is divided into four stages.
Ethan is a second stage core forging cultivator. Kailo recently became a third-stage body forging cultivator. Sam is already at the third stage of core forging.
Ethan had never bothered to study the higher levels. In high school, those levels aren't covered much in class since most students won't reach them.
While he's meditating, his phone rings beside him. Opening his eyes, he sees that the ringtone is coming from his phone back on Earth.
He stares at the glowing screen for a few seconds until a sudden urge makes him reach for the phone.
By the time he picks it up, the update message has disappeared and a standard phone home screen with apps appears. There are only two icons on the screen that he doesn't recognize.
One of the icons is a silhouette with its legs crossed, as if meditating.
The other is a silhouette performing a martial arts move.
Ethan clicks on the meditating silhouette icon, and a window pops up with the name "Idle Cultivation" glowing.