Body Cultivation Hurts - Chapter 6

The pain left him. Then he woke up and some horned, female goblin was choking him while cackling. Except, she wasn’t real. The strange images in his mind continued as he lay there. His body felt like a body, but the control over his mind was much slower to return.

Eventually, he closed his wandering eyes and opened them to find the floating text was waiting.

~

Status

Name: Nathaniel Kane

Age: 19

Cultivation: First Stage of the Body Realm (Beginner)

Focus: Body (Toughness)

Talent: S

Physique: E+

Strength: E

Agility: E

Stamina: D

Energy: G

Spirit: G

Abilities: Undeveloped

Skills:

Grappling – Rank D

Boxing – Rank E

Muay Thai – Rank E

Judo – Rank F+

Wrestling – Rank E

Overall Assessment: You have an ultra-rare talent for Body Cultivation. Because of your innate talents for absorbing qi, your energy and soul cultivation talents have advanced to Rank D. Compared to humanity, your Body Cultivation talent is amongst the rare few at the top. Compared to all beings in the universe, your talent is in the top 1%. Further breakdown is not available at this time. ~

He held up his hand. He’d expected to have more muscle, but he hardly recognized his appendage. His fingers were longer and thicker. He was missing a freckle. Turning his hand over, he saw that even his fingernails were longer and undone was any of the damage he’d caused from biting them when he was younger.

Much better than last time.

Quickly forgetting about the pain, he held up both arms and noticed they looked longer. His muscle definition didn’t look any less than before, but he still wasn’t bulky.

He took sitting up slowly but found the pain didn’t return. His mind seemed clearer than ever. His legs looked longer. He’d always had four abs visible with a pooch across the bottom, but now he had an eight pack in all its glory.

Jumping to his feet, he ignored the wall of text and took off at a run to the other side of the room. He felt light, awkward, and exaggeratedly coordinated all at the same time. Another thing was undeniable. He was taller than before.

Running back toward his bedding, he hopped over it and went straight to the mirror. He looked the same, but more mature and much cleaner. He also lacked every mole, freckle, and scar. Drawing closer, he examined his eyebrow. It was where he’d received the worst cut he ever had in a fight. It was gone. So was his cauliflower ear.

He took the time to give himself a full body examination. He’d been confident in his looks, but never male model attractive. Now, however? He didn’t spend long admiring himself. Just long enough to flex once or twice and confirm all the changes had been positive.

As for his height, if he had to guess he’d gained almost half a foot and was now close to 6’6”. He jumped around the room a little longer and let himself enjoy the feeling.

As for his Physique, it had already reached E+. He knew what that meant.

Now what?

As if responding to his unasked question, text appeared explaining his next possible steps.

~

Options

Visit the Staging Facility (Tower 1st Floor)?

Visit the Point’s Menu?

Become familiar with your Personalized Cultivation Method, Rank S?

Read your Martial Technique Primer, Rank G?

Train in your room?

Proceed to take the trial unlocking the Contacts System.

Note: The Staging Facility is the starting point for all of mankind. It is a city that exists within the tower on the first floor. People from every nation and tongue under heaven will use the same facility. I have taken the liberty of modifying everyone with a Universal Language Translator implant. It is not limited to just your world’s languages. By universal, it means it is capable of translating nearly every language in the known universe. Still beware of cultural differences between people groups. ~

He just shook his head when reading the part about the translator implant. Even in his last life at his peak, he never been strong enough to reject such a thing. The benefits were cool enough.

It seemed he needed to spend his points on Path upgrades first since they’d double in an hour. With 47,000 points left, he pulled up the Point’s Menu. He knew he had a limited time to choose other physique upgrades. His body was currently primed for enhancement, and if he waited the points cost for everything would more than double.

“What are my best options for physique upgrades?”