Starfall City
A bald old man was teaching his students.
He was in a classroom. Standing in front of his 24 students, he introduced Mana to the children. "Mana is a very strange and mysterious energy that is around the world around us. It's not known when Mana first ca to our world or if Mana has existed since the dawn of ti. But one is clear. Without Mana, there would not be any cultivators. Our entire world will beco completely unrecognizable." One of the students from his classroom raised her hand. Seeing the face of the student who raised her hand, the old man's expression softened. "Yes.....!!" The little girl excitedly stood up and asked. "Fa....I an, Teacher, is it true that Mana enters our body when we breathe?" The girl little almost let everyone know of their secret. But she was able to correct herself. It was common for children to sotis mistakenly call their teachers 'Father' or 'Mother.' "That's a very interesting question, Miss Jenny." The old man stroked his long red mustache.
"The simple and short answer to your question would be yes."
"When we inhale air, it's not just oxygen that enters our lungs. Depending on your location, a certain percentage of Mana do enters the body. The amount of Mana in the air can be higher or lower. So the amount of Mana that enters the body while inhaling can vary from place to place." "To give you all an example. If you were to go to a remote place that is very far away from cities and towns, the Mana of that place would be pure and slightly denser. But of course, a non-cultivator will never be able to tell this difference since the density of the Mana does not change to the point where even ordinary beings are able to feel it." All the children were really focused. Their teacher taught things in such a simplified and interesting way that instead of feeling bored with his classes, the children always looked forward to his classes. This is perhaps why no students struggled to get good marks in the subject that Professor Ryan taught them. On average, every student scored above 70 marks out of 100.
"Now, moving back to the topic of inhaling Mana along with other gases, while every being is able to inhale Mana that is mixed with other gases, not everyone is able to cultivate. Can anyone tell the answer to this question?" Professor Ryan looked around the class. A few hands were raised. After raising one hand, the little boy answered. "It's because of the Cultivation Technique."
"Yes!! Good job, Roland." "However, it is almost important for you all to know that not all Cultivation Techniques follow the principles of absorbing the Mana that the body gets through inhaling air. But most Cultivation Techniques do follow this principle since this thod of cultivation is easier to learn." "Earlier, Miss Jenny asked if it's true that Mana enters our body through cultivation. The answer is this is the case 99% of the ti." "There are so special individual or special cases which you will learn next year. For now, there is no need to do so. You might not be able to comprehend this at this point."
"There are other thods of cultivating. So people absorb Mana through the little tiny pores on their bodies." Ryan was about to continue, but he realized the children might not know what pores are. "Do you know what pores are?" This wasn't his subject to teach but the knowledge was required to understand what he was going to explain next. A few students shook their heads. "We have tiny pores on our bodies. These tiny holes, where sweat cos out, are simply called sweat pores."
"But these sweat pores can also be used to absorb Mana from the air."
"This is where the second thod of cultivating cos in. It's absorbing Mana through the pores. Many cultivation techniques were made following this principle with slight variations in each."
"The third thod of cultivating is a combination of the previous two principles. This ans that a cultivator absorbs the Mana that he/she inhales with air and also uses the sweat pores to absorb Mana."
Ryan was satisfied to see that no one looked confused. This ans that he can continue with his explanation. "As you all can see this is a two-way process. This ans, compared to the other two thods of cultivation, this thod of cultivating is much tougher, especially for cultivators that have just started their cultivation journey." "Not only learning this cultivation technique that follows this principle is very difficult, but also using this thod of cultivating puts a lot of strain on the brain. Since your brain needs to focus on absorbing from two sources."
"Now let's talk about the fourth thod of cultivating...!!"
•••
After school ended, the Professor returned to his house. It wasn't just an ordinary house. It was a small Mansion. When he retired, he was given a lot of money due to all of his services and contributions. He saved most of his money. But years ago, he bought this Mansion at a discounted price from one of his friends. As he opened the locks of his Mansion and walked in, the Professor beca alert as he noticed that so people were sitting on his couches. These people were drinking his wine and eating the leftover food. "I must say, our cooking is really delicious, Professor." One of the n said. The Professor did not look scared. He understood that they were sent by the organization that he worked for. Despite retiring a few years back, he still kept regular contact with the organization. Every week, he went to the market and bought a ton of research materials. At the end of the week, soone ca and took everything. Sotis, he would leave a note of needed materials along with the money to buy them.
The Professor received very generous commissions for doing this job so he never refused. "Do you guys need sothing?" The Professor was on the empty chair next to the couches and looked at their leader. His legs were on the tea table. He was eating the food that he was going to eat after returning ho. "Professor, it looks like you have been doing well. You even put a few extra kiloters of weight."
"Well, I have stopped working out or cultivation recently."
"Is there a reason why the organization sent you?" Ryan again asked but this ti, his tone was little bit more serious. "Well, we were sent here for a reason, but it's nothing too serious." The man's tone suddenly beca friendly. He put a plate on the tea table after removing his legs and then sat straight. "I took this job since I have known you for years now. But we barely interacted since our jobs were completely different."
"It's true!!" "Adian, please pour a glass of wine to the Professor." The subordinate nad Adian did what he was told. "While my job is to go to various places and execute the orders of the boss from outside, your job is to remain in the facility and produce results for the Boss." Professor nodded his head. "You know, I am grateful to you." There was a sincere smile on his face. "Grateful for what?" The Professor did not rember even interacting with him. He only had seen this face around the facility a few tis. At the sa ti, the Professor accepted the glass of Wine. "This might be very insignificant to you, but back when I joined this organization, I made a mistake." "It was a mistake that was surely going to get killed."
Normally, the mbers would need to cut with their own fingers if they made a mistake. Each mber gets three chances of redemption. Each ti, they would need to cut their own fingers and represent it to their superiors as an apology.
But there is no room for redemption in the 4th try. It was death. "By that point, I have made my first mistake." He showed his right palm. One of his fingers was missing. "If not for you, then I would have lost another finger. But you talked the boss out of it."
"For this, I am very grateful." After finishing his story, he took a sip. The Professor also took a sip before asking. "Forgive for asking so late, but what is your na?" The Professor felt very curious. The man smiled and responded. "I am Ross."
"But I also go by other nas."
"Such as the Executioner, The Blood rchant, The Punisher."
"You might be familiar with this one." The Professor had a bad feeling in his heart. "Debt Collector!!!"
Just hearing these two words, Ryan's pupils contracted to the size of needles. The glass from his hand fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. His face turned pale. His hands and legs started shaking. After being in this organization for so many years, how can he not understand what these two words ant. The word 'Debt Collector' is a code word that is used when the organization needs to eliminate so of its useless mbers. The most ironic part was the fact that it was Professor Ryan who gave the Boss this idea. He was the one who ca up with these two code words. Never did he think that one day, these two words would be used against him. "Professor, I am really sorry. But orders are orders." But there was no trace of Guilt on Ross's face. He instead had an amused smile on his face. By the ti Ryan noticed the position of the mbers, he was already surrounded. "Adian, do it!!" Adian brought a dagger to his throat. Ryan could feel the cold blade touching his throat "Why?"
In the end, Ryan's heart was filled with nothing but regret. He spent his entire youth working for this organization. Even when he was retired, he continued helping the organization by providing information and supplies. Yet, for no reason, he was ordered to be killed. "I don't know, Professor."
"But you know how things work. No one defy the orders from the Boss."
Ross then looked at Adian and nodded his head. Slit....!!!
A second later, the Professor's head fell to the floor. His body was still on the chair.
"Our work is done here."
"Burn this entire house."
Before Ryan returned ho, they had checked every inch of the house to make sure the Professor hadn't left anything that could be traced back to them. At the sa ti, they took all of his research papers. Although he wasn't ordered to do it, Ross knew very well that these research papers might be useful soday. Ross stood up to leave. He turned around to leave but stopped as if he rembered sothing. •••
Aditya rushed to Starfall City as fast as he could. But just when he entered the city, he noticed sothing was on fire.
From above, he could see that a house was burning. 'Could it be?' Aditya did not waste any ti. As he landed 400 ters away, he saw a crowd of people had gathered surrounding the burning house. So were trying to save the Mansion, but it was already too late. "I can't believe a good person like Professor Ryan was killed in his own Mansion." One of the people in the crowd said. "Yeah!! He was such a gentleman."
"My kid really loved his classes."
'Professor Ryan was killed....!!' Aditya stood staring at the burning Mansion for 10 minutes while being in shock. He thought everything he was doing to save her was a secret, but it seems these people have sohow found out. At the sa ti, Ross and his n calmly exited the city from the other side.
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