The Night of the Meteor Shower
Takeshi sat staring at the night sky—really, it was all he could do. He had been in a traumatic car accident at the age of eight and was paralyzed from the neck down. Now twenty-five, he would stare at the stars and dream of a life in which he wasn't trapped in his own body. His father would wheel him out every night. Sitting there with no control, he questioned everything: Why me? What was the purpose of a life he had no choice in? He would look at the countless stars and wonder what was out there.
Tonight was different, though. He saw a shooting star, its bright white light tearing across the blackness, opening the dark veil. "Haha, might as well make a wish," he thought. "I wish I had the power to change my destiny," he gargled, barely able to control his vocal cords.
As if God had heard his prayer, many more meteors joined the first, and he stared at one that was coming straight for him. "Thank God, I am finally free from the prison of my body," he said as it struck him. He went through the same experience as the others, but his soul was already quite large, having endured so much already.
When his soul split and the second half flew to the cultivation world, he thought he was being reborn. He flew with a single intention: I want to have a strong body in this life. Guided by his will, he found a sect in the coldest part of the world. On a volcano toward the North Pole stood the Body Destroying Sect. They were cultivators, but they used a different path than trying to strengthen themselves by building up qi in their meridians. Body refining was about using qi from the world to refine and strengthen the physical form—like forging steel through striking it over and over again.
At the base of the volcano, disciples collected from around the world were attempting the entrance exam. This involved all disciples sitting in the lotus position while the coldest winds in the world assailed their bodies. But that was the easy part. The volcano sat on a spiritual vein and assailed them with countless attacks on the spirit, mind, and soul.
Zulu was a young warrior from the southwestern continent who had been selected by roaming recruiters of the sect. His body was sturdier than most of the people on trial, but his inherited attributes made his will and soul weak. The Body Refining Sect wasn't like others—if ten percent survived the entrance exam, it was considered a good year.
Zulu laughed at the cold as the five hundred applicants were assailed by it. Other examinees shook as it tore through them. Zulu thought this was easy until the volcano burst forth with a spiritual attack. The elder overseeing the exam, Iron Tongue, braced himself as he felt his own soul tremble. "The volcano tests this group truly more than in years before," he mumbled. Three hundred applicants fell dead as their souls dispersed into nothing, burnt away by the spiritual fire of Volcano Olympus.
Zulu's head fell forward as his soul disappeared. The instructor started dragging the dead applicants into a pile to be fed to the volcano—a long-held tradition. When he was about to grab Zulu, the young man's head snapped up.
Takeshi felt the cold. It was pain, and he cried out at the top of his lungs in an inhuman scream. It was not because of the pain, but because he could finally feel. Almost twenty years of nothing, and the prickling pain of the cold and the burning fire against his soul felt like a cold drink to someone dying of thirst.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Tears streamed down his face as he screamed over and over. The assaults of the volcano refined his soul, imbuing it with strength for those who could survive its onslaught.
Iron Tongue felt his skin tingle with excitement. "Yes! A worthy applicant who embraces the pain!" he screamed out. "Ahh, yes! Embrace the pain, don't push it away! Through pain and suffering, body refiners climb toward immortality!"
Wave after wave of cold and heat assailed the aspiring cultivators' bodies, and many fell. Takeshi was crying with joy at the pain. "Yes, thank you, God. This pain I will embrace. Thank you for the opportunity to feel once more."
After twelve hours, Iron Tongue called out, "Enough! Run to the buildings—they will shield you from the onslaught, and you can rest and eat. You are now body cultivators."
Everyone was quick to stumble toward the shelter, but Iron Tongue saw Zulu stand and walk closer and closer to the volcano, embracing the increasing pain. He shivered once again. "Truly, this will be one of our best disciples," he muttered as he intervened to save Zulu from permanent damage and dragged him back to the sect buildings with the others.
Riku saw Tim stumble in for the third day in a row. He looked absolutely broken, but she felt a surge of competitiveness. Tim was truly inspiring a desire to improve. She couldn't just rely on Varek for training—her earthly body mattered to her too.
Varek messaged Lia: Your fly is down.
She saw Tim quickly look down, and seeing nothing was wrong, he looked up at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and giggled to herself. Why was it so fun to mess with him? Tim, fooled once again, realized that while he may be a teacher of English, he was merely a student of mischief. This didn't mean he wouldn't try his best, though.
"Good morning, class. We have a lot to get through today, and I will have everyone come up one at a time to read their five-hundred-word English assignment from last week. Riku, you look well prepared," he teased.
Riku went bright red and muttered, "Ah, yeah, sorry, Mr. J. My dog ate it."
"My, my, you have a hungry dog," Tim replied. The class laughed—they were starting to enjoy the back-and-forth between Riku and Tim. Why does she make herself stand out so much? some of them thought.
Lia received a message from Varek: This isn't the end. By the way, I'm coming to your gym tonight. I will not be left behind.
After class, Tim collapsed into the teachers' lounge. His muscles were torn from head to toe. Yui was brutal but a great instructor. Something felt off to him, too. While Riku acted exactly her age, Yui acted much older than even him. She was sassy and confident, but he also got a feeling of danger from her.
No time to dwell on it too much, he thought. He started the breathing exercises and began to feel energy move around his body. It was as if the faintest amount of qi was starting to circulate. He tried to relate it to the cultivation world, but it was difficult—the sheer amount of qi in the cultivation world made it seem like heavy fog compared to the lightest wisp of smoke in the air here. The feeling was more intense when at the dojo. Maybe it's a place of greater qi, he thought.