For the first time in months, we managed to sit down at a table together, just old friends, reunited. It wasn't our old cafeteria, of course. Second-periods didn't eat there anymore. We had access to various cafes and shops now, though none of it came free.

We were sitting in a self-service place, something in the style of Tangerine, just me, Bao, and Zola. Since I'd just returned from a successful raid, dinner was on me.

Bao was now with the Order. Johansson had given him a recommendation and officially taken him on as a disciple. Their roots aligned perfectly, though their styles differed. Bao relied more on vines than brute force. His weapon was flexible, where Johansson's hammer was made for destruction, not control.

Zola was in Medicine. Albert had been part of the Hall for over thirty years and knew the place inside out. Thanks to knowledge from her past life, Zola was considered a genius, and didn't have to try too hard to keep up.

A few words were exchanged about luck.

They wished me more of it, I returned the favour, and then the details started coming out.

Bao was surprised I'd turned down the next raid.

"You could've broken through," he said, "if you'd really tried."

"And gotten yourself killed," Zola snorted. "People don't always come back from those raids. You only go on missions like that with people you trust a hundred per cent. It has to be your proven team."

"Your proven team?" Bao raised an eyebrow. "You've got a new boyfriend in bed every week."

"I'm a medic," she reminded him. "They all get tested before they're cleared for access to my body. Besides, STIs are rare among cultivators. Catching the flu is more common."

"That's disgusting," Bao muttered.

"Oh, stop it, virgin boy," Zola waved him off, making Bao blush a deep red.

"I'm not—"

"Don't take the bait," I cut in. "Just tell us about your raid."

"It's not really a raid," Bao said, calming down. "More of a geo-survey. Just the four of us. We're heading to the abandoned mines in the Red Sands. Rumour has it slugs have shown up, which means new crystals have likely formed." He glanced at Zola. "And you? How are you planning to submit your crystal?"

It was one of the few requirements for moving on to third period — a cadet had to submit a qi crystal harvested in the field.

"I'll buy mine," Zola replied.

"That's not allowed," Bao said. "And you're admitting this to a member of the Order."

"I'm Doctor Bulsara's personal assistant. I've already passed exams in Human Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, and Histology. My colleagues consider me a genius. And if I master the Blade on top of that, the Order will swallow it without blinking."

"Why the Blade?" I asked.

"With the Blade, I'll be able to perform complex field surgeries without tools," she said. "Using blade projections. And if I add the Palm to the mix, they'll be carrying me around on their shoulders."

"That's a hell of a lot of work," I said.

"Which is exactly why I don't have time for these stupid raids!" Zola replied, running her hands down her sides. "I'm building the perfect, all-purpose surgeon, someone who can operate in any environment!"

"What's the point of that if you can't prove you're field-ready?" Bao jabbed. "You're a lab creature, through and through. Hard to imagine you working without instruments."

Zola frowned.

Bao had a point.

"I'll get my doctorate before either of you! They'll take me on staff as soon as I start third period, you'll see. I bet you haven't even picked what you're going to study yet."

"You lost that bet," Bao said. "Law. Criminal law."

They both looked at me.

I raised my hands.

"Sociology?" I guessed.

"Well, if you're planning to apply for a cashier job at a pizza place, then sure, why not," Zola smirked.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Hm… I'll have to let Lina know what you think of her degree," I countered.

Didn't land.

"Lina's got a second one in psychology," Zola said.

"But Novak only did sociology."

"You're not Novak, Jake," she added. "Pick something respectable."

"As soon as you go on a raid," I said.

Zola had a point, but I'd had enough of rushing decisions for now. At the moment, I was leaning towards engineering. That would let me handle armour and drone maintenance myself. Still, I hadn't told anyone, just in case I changed my mind.

I'd postponed picking a study track until third period. Ten years — more than enough time to do whatever you wanted. But out of the three years we were given for second period, I'd already burned through half of first one.

Most of that time had gone into fieldwork and travelling across Verdis with other Novak disciples. Though we never strayed too far from the School, I'd been to the capital once — Core-City.

The rest of my free time went into studying cultivation theory, the various types of qi, and techniques.

There were, broadly speaking, four generally accepted cultivation paths.

The first — rare, but undeniably reliable, was the single-qi path.

The cultivator focused on a single root, refining their techniques to perfection without distraction. This approach produced most of the truly effective fighters. Their weaknesses were compensated for with armour, formations, amulets, and artefacts.

Adam, Gunther, and Moriyama followed this path, though Gunther still had time to change direction.

The second, and by far the most common, was the path of synergy between two. Bao and his teacher followed this route.

Wood-Mace, Wood-Edge, Fist-Mace, Fist-Lightning, Palm-Fire… Dual combinations were well known and thoroughly documented. They had fewer weak points and required less support from formations or gear.

The third path involved three or four qi types, though one of them clearly dominated the rest. Everything revolved around a central theme, allowing the cultivator to progress evenly and invest heavily in that core during breakthroughs.

Such cultivators used two- or three-component techniques alongside single-type ones.

And then there was the fourth path — the path of chaos and complete freedom. The cultivator didn't tie themselves to any one root and could study whatever they liked. At breakthroughs, they might skip focusing on their unique features entirely, choosing instead to invest in general improvements: energy reserves, resistance, immune system. Or they might upgrade their Fist Shield at second stage, weight control at third, and fire temperature and telekinesis range at fourth.

The fourth path was resource-hungry, inefficient in combat, and produced fighters who were versatile, but not exceptional. Still, it was flexible. A cultivator could easily adapt to a new technique if they happened upon a rare breakthrough material that enhanced something specific.

There were other limitations when it came to multi-root techniques. The more different types of qi a technique used, the rarer and less refined it became. The chances of finding a red-tier Blade-Fire-Earth technique were significantly lower than finding a red Blade or Earth one. Add another qi to the mix, and the problem wasn't just finding a high-quality version, it was finding the technique at all.

I already had a solid foundation, not that I'd fully committed to Fist, so all four paths were still open to me. But I immediately ruled out the fourth. I liked variety, but not chaos. Life had enough of that already.

The first path and I were on speaking terms. But I already had Mad Monkey of East, and I liked it. Just stick with that? Not a bad option.

I'd levelled up Air significantly in the Air Garden. Had to, otherwise, I wouldn't have managed to clear my debt by the deadline. I think now I might actually be able to rip the air out of someone else's armour, though that would need testing in vacuum.

Besides, I had an idea for modifying the Airy Chain Punch.

Sooner or later, every cultivator reaches this stage, but second year felt a bit early to be thinking about modifying techniques seriously.

The second path wasn't bad, but I still had gaps in both offence and defence. Which pointed me toward the third path. And that meant I had to be extremely careful. What to study, how it would affect my long-term development.

My biggest issue at the moment was penetration.

Everyone had damned armour, and I needed something that could actually break through it.

Breaking — that was the Mace. But the Mace struggled against shields. Point worked better against shields, but worse against formations.

Palm?

Fist and Palm were basically opposites, I wasn't sure how well they could work together… Though there was potential.

What else hadn't I considered?

Wood? I hated Wood. No talent for it either.

Still, having something in my kit to deal with it wouldn't hurt. Vines could be annoying and dangerous. Bao had proven that during our sparring matches. And the image of Moretti popping that ant's head off with a vine was still fresh in my mind.

Palm worked well against vines. Denis used it to snap them with his bare hands, weakening them with a healthy dose of Palm Qi.

Seon-yeon did it even better with Blade.

Blade was solid, but they didn't teach it in Black Lotus.

Same with Lightning, though Kate had it, so it wasn't exactly a deal-breaker.

What did that leave?

Fire, Water, Earth, and Finger.

Fire sounded like something that would work well against Tree, but how would it hold up in vacuum? And how did it interact with shielded formations?

I'd have to dig into the library archives, maybe find some video footage. Check if we had access to Yellow Pine tournament broadcasts.

Honestly, I was most curious about Finger. I had no idea how they turned it into a laser, or how effective that laser really was.

Still, I doubted laser and Fist had any real synergy.

Earth looked the most promising, but that was just based on my very limited knowledge.

So I knew what I'd be doing in the near future: digging through mountains of information. And probably getting back to regular cultivation, to keep myself safe from randomness. Any injury meant delays, and there would be injuries.

It had been a while since I'd had tea with the Great One, but I could feel in my gut he was going to bring up tournaments again.

For now, I had a perfect excuse, and a living example in the form of Gunther. The 'unbeatable first-year' had decided to throw himself into the second-period tournaments and got wrecked in his very first match.

Spent over a week in a pod recovering.

Second-periods had more experience, broader arsenals. I wasn't in a rush to get beat up.

Novak understood. Didn't do him much good if his disciple was getting his face dragged across the floor.

The Great One had to protect his reputation. But even his patience wasn't limitless.

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