Author's note:

* ... * - thinking

" ... " - speaking

*** - timeskip

Enjoy!

There are many ages. Brought by human evolution and unrelenting nature, change is uncaring and unstoppable. A true truth of the universe.

Alas, human ambition, fueled by endless greed and hunger for power and improvement, proves unwantting to yield. With every generation humanitys brightest minds pushed our limits further, taming nature, besting diseases and creating machinery capable of challenging nature itself. With such evolved technology, only the more unlucky fall to the whims of nature, right?

Complacent can bring about disaster, and even the greatest empires fall to the dust of time. And, so would human advancement meet its match.

The year when disaster struck, as nature unleashed all its pent-up wrath. The ground cracked under massive earthquakes, the sky darkened under the towering tidal waves that swept our prised cities, the mountains spew seas of lava, it's grey ash spreading across continents. Even the few that found themselves sheltered from the disaster fell victim to numerous plagues running rampant across the populus.

It seemed like the technological world, with all its marvels and promised safety, was coming to an end. However, just as the hope was fading from the people's hearts, they came into the light.

The 7 cultivation masters with their many disciplines came out of hiding in order to avoid extinction. They healed the earth, they stopped the floods, they cleared the sky and they cured the plagues. All these miracles, which not even modern science at its pinnacle could achieve, were possible due to the use of a power hidden deep within all living beings known as ki.

Now that extinction was averted, the masters turned their attention towards the survivors. With the help of their knowledge and power of their sects they helped the world recover, preaching the wanders of Ki in the process. And so, the Age of cultivation came to be.

Aaand dot. He finally finished the test. Well, finally, but he was still by far the first to finish. As he went to turn the papers a couple silent giggles could be heard in the room. * He gave up so early, he must know absolutely nothing * they must think. Not that he cared about what they thought. A large smile creept on his face as he turned in the paper and exited the room. He did well on the exam.

Making his way outside the building, he picked a spot on a bench near the entrance. The boys grey hair and red eyes glimmered in awe as he gazed at the regional headquarters of the D.E.G. It was one of the most impressive constructs in town, around 100 stories tall, making most other buildings look like midgets in comparison. Only the Xu corporation and the Divine flame sect branch headquarters were taller than it.

* The area around the city is muddy, that should make it impossible for building this size to exist... they must have used some sort of ki technique to build this! Oh, I wander what kind of technique they used, it must have been at least high-earth stage in order to achieve this size! the Department of Education and Guidance is really awesome! One day I'll be able to build marvels like this as well! Just you wait gramps, I'll keep my words!*

And so the boy stared at the concrete behemoth for a sizeable amount of time, trying to discern any details, any engravings, any formations that would help him understand the inner workings of the technique. His concentration only broke when he spotted a kid was finally broken passing trough the gates, his dark- brown hair, pale skin and green eyes where all- too known by Arun. It was his childhood friend, Bohdi.

" Bohdi! Here! How was the exam? Did everything go well? How did you answer this question? " Arun immediately assaulted his friend with questions as he drew closer.

Bohdi, who was deep in thought and not expecting a sudden bombardment, recoiled, surprised. But than again, he was used to his friends abnormally high level of energy when excited, so he really should have expected it.

" Arun! Calm down, people will be able to hear you from the classrooms 30 floors up. "

" Oh sorry... " Arun said while visibly deflating.

Bohdy chuckled. " So, judging by the amount of energy you have, the exam went well."

" Yeah! I was surprised tho, the questions were pretty dang easy, I was expecting something harder... "

Arun barely got time to finish his sentence as he got interrupted by a loud laughter, but this time it wasn't Bohdi's. Looking behind his shoulder Arun saw another familiar face, but this time not-so-friendly. It was William Qu, one of his classmates.

" Easy? Easy?! You can spout such blatant lies, we were in the same examination room! I saw you leaving after 25 minutes! I bet you didn't even write nothing on the paper! Don't worry tho, even though youll inevitably fail this exam, there is no shame in it. After all, it's not like anybody has any sort of expectations from you! "

" Stop it William! You're going too far? Have you no respect for your classmates? " Bohdy snapped.

" Respect? For him? This weakling didn't even reach mid- human level and yet you expect me, a son of the Qu family to respect HIM? Watch your mouth Bohdi, you should know your place as a commoner as well, if I catch you

speaking like that again I can't guarantee your safety. "

" Why you... "

" You can't guarantee his safety? What are you about to do next, ask for protection money? Since when has Qu family became a bunch of thugs that bully the weak? " A female voice resounded as another character exited the gates. It was Aileen, Bohdi's sister. " And to bully someone in front of the department, none the less, aren't you shameless William? "

William went red but he pondered on a good response. After all, there were people around, he could not sully Qu's family name by being careless. But as a croud started to materialise around him and Aileen kept staring him down with a defiant look on her face, feelings of anger stimmed from his slightly wounded pride overcame his attempts at reasoning.

" Thugs? Shameless? Oh, please I'm just putting them in their rightful place! And you! You commoner! You shoul... "

" William! "

William couldn't finish his sentence a loud shout interrupted him. He turned towards the man who interrupted his rant before it even really started. It was none other than his undesirable classmate.

"" It doesn't matter what you think of me, it doesn't matter what you label me as, for one day, I will become a powerful forger and cultivator. But before that,know that I will ace this exam and enter the Divine Flame high! "

William and the people around all paused their speech for a second. Than in the next a thunderous laughter erupted. Everyone knew that Arun had below average cultivation and downright non-existant backing and background, being just that loud kid from the slums. Everybody except for Bohdy and Aileen, of which the latter one was holding her face in her hands.

" You... you are killing me... if I knew you were this funny I'd have hired you as my personal jester! ". William managed between his laughing fits.

"Oh, and William, I ain't finished. " Arun, which didn't seem to be bothered by everything going on around him, threw William a stern look. " If you ever threaten my friends again, I am not going to be able to guarantee your safety".

The laughter continued but now William and Arun gazes were locked. After a few tense moments, William finally broke away.

" You've got some guts I'll give you that. I'll enjoy seeing you put in your place."

And with that William backed off. The small crowd gathered over time dispersed as well once the spectacle was over.

" The nerve on that guy. " Bohdi spat.

" Leave him be. He's from the wealthiest family in our city, best not trifle with him too much. " Aileen shook her head. "More importantly, Arun, are you really shooting for Divine Flame? ".

" Well, I mostly said that in order to spite William off, but yes. It's the best forging school in East City and it's controlled by one of the 5 top sects in our country "

Aileen sighted " Listen, Arun, I am going to tell you this straight. You don't have the abilities. Only the best of the best are able to get into that school. I know your knowledge about forging materials and techniques is unrivaled for our age, but your cultivation is just so-so at best! You need to be at least high- human stage in order to get admitted, you barely entered low- human stage! Realistically, it's impossible! "

" Aileen! " Bohdi intervined " You're going too far, you can't tell Arun what he can and can't do, he should pick that himself! "

" I'm just being realistic here! Such nonsensical high aims will only serve to disappoint him! "

Bohdi didn't look quite done with the argument but before he could reply Arun did:

" Listen Aileen, I know that you mean well but believe me or not, I will become the best cultivator I can be, and for that I'll take the best school I have acces to. Actually, I know you don't believe me, even Bohdi doesn't, but that's fine, I will just have to show you. "

" I just can't even with you... " Aileen replied defeated, but still managed to crack a smile " Your stubbornness must have reached heaven- level already "

" You are right about that sis " Bohdi chuckled.

" Ehh... " Arun responded, his face turning a bit red for a moment before he suddenly continued " Now, now, we are avoiding the real elephant in the room. How was the exam? How did you guys do? How did you answer the question... "

" And he's back to normal. We had a moment of respite there for a bit... " Aileen was the one to chuckle this time.

" Yeah " her brother nodded decisivly.

" Ooi, are you guys ignoring me? Stop it! Answer me, I need answers!! " Arun said exasperated.

" Fine, fine here's the gist of it... "

With the incident now off their minds, the kids start eagerly discussing the exam while they made their way home. It would seem like Arun did the best with Aileen scoring very high and Bohdi sitting somewhere around a respectable 75/100 points.

" Oof.. you guys, I didn't even do that bad but you two make me feel like I'm the worst. " Bohdi cried out.

" Well, you sorta are. Come on, Bohdi, I'd expect better things from my twin " Aileen teased.

" We are twins only in appearance. I cannot say that I have a lot in common with an ice- hearted cultivation monster such as you... "

Bohdi and Aileen were indeed very similar in appearance, Aileen's long black hair, pale skin and green eyes very much matched Bohdi's. But everywhere else...

" Huh? Monster you say? " Aileen smiled menacingly at Bohdi. " Dear brother, may I know what you mean by that? "

" Oh, no... uhm... sis I was just saying that you were a very strong cultivator.... auch, auch au.."

Bohdi cried out while Aileen was oh-so-gently pinching him.

" You sure we're, brother. "

" Bohdi, Bohdi, you never learn, do you? You should know by now what your sis evolves into once she's pissed "

" Evolves? And into what exactly do I evolve? Please, do enlighten me, dear friend!" Aileen now turned her attention towards Arun.

" Dumbass " Bohdi murmured.

Arun promptly realised his crucial error and activated flight mode " Uh... well that would be... Oh! would you look at that? we are at the station already! Oh, how time flies! Well, gotta go now, see ya tomorrow! Good luck at the second part of the exam! "

" Arun, get back here this instant! "

" Can't do I have a very important thing to do! Bye now, have a nice day! And good luck Bohdi!"

" Hahaha, good luck to you Arun! May the ki be with you! "

" What are you laughing at? " Aileen said as she smacked Bohdi, than she looked at the now distant figure of Arun and whispered " Good luck to you too dumbass. Make sure to ace this..."

***

Arun made his way trough the dim-lighted streets. The examination building was far away from the slums and the buss ticket was expensive so he had trust his good old feet to take him home. He did not spend all that time admiring the view tho, his eyes were deeply burrowed into a book called " Modern crafting techniques ". The second part of the separation exam was just a couple hours away and he was trying to cram as much as he could before it started.

The separation exam, aptly called because of its role to sort people into normal high-schools and cultivation high-schools, had 3 rounds. One was the written exam, which Arun had just taken, than there was the cultivation test, and the custom round, in which the kids had freedom to choose between a few options ( combat, pill-refining and forging ). While your option didn't matter to the final grade, it was taken into consideration by the high-schools. For example, if you wanted to apply to a school that specialised on pill-refining, you would need to undertake the pill-refining round.

Arun taken on forging for the second round. He always liked creating things, ranging from new kinds of food to crude machinery. His materials were cheap and faulty and he would often fail , but hei! it was in the name of science! and he learned something new every time! Plus, his grandfather allway encouraged his little obsession. He always sang praise to the potential cultivation held in bettering everyone life's, up until the day he passed.

This time however, Arun was especially excited for tomorrow. He devised a new way, a completely different technique that promised to improve every build he forged dramatically. He quickly ran his fingers trough every line of the book. None of the techniques presented in this book were similar to what he was thinking about, but it did contain the basics which were useful to review.

* Ok, so I I'm not mistaken, if I apply my ki around this part it than I... * Arun suddenly halted. After listening to his surroundings for a moment he closed his book:

" Sigh... I knew I shouldn't have taken the shortcut... why was I so greedy for time... "

Arun took a short way home this day in order to have time to test his theory. This was a risky move, alltough the slums where know to house people with low-cultivation, these parts were known for their powerfull and aggressive gangs.

" Kid's got pretty good perception, gotta give him that " A tall man appeard from behind the alleyway.

" That's pretty demoralising... I thought I hid good"

" Well, I guess we gotta do this the hard way than " Another two people emerged from the shadows on the other side of the alley. Arun was trapped.

* The tall guy is in high human stage and there are two medium stages behind me. If they cultivate any techniques I might be in trouble. *

" What a lovely welcome! Didn't know that the people around here where so friendly! "

" hahaha, of course were friendly. " the corpolent thug let out a crooked smile. " So friendly that we are even willing to protect kids who walk around these parts at night! We only ask for a little coin, that's it... "

* And here I was, thinking that walking was cheaper than taking the bus * Arun remarked.

" If you're after money than I'm afraid you've picked the wrong person. I'm as broke as they come " Arun said showing his empty pockets.

" That's hardly a problem, if we help you back to your home, I'm sure your parents will show their gratitude to us. "

* These guys... they even plan to ransom me... they won't leave me alone even if I tell them that I'm by myself. I guess there's no way to resolve this peacefully... But I can't fight them now, it would take too much energy to beat them all and I have the exam tomorrow... let's see, what to do? *

" Oh? But mommy told me not bring strangers home " Arun tried his best impression of a clueless face.

" I'm sure mommy would understand, right? "

" Stop wasting your time, this kid ain't biting it" the tall thug intervined " Catch him! ".

* Huh. This one's sharper. *

" Yes, Boss. Sorry kid I didn't want it to come to this " The talkative thug said as he quickly approached Arun and tried to grab him by the neck.

* Here we go * Arun took a deep breath, than proceeded to take ki from within his body and concentrate it in his hands. Taking a step back, he intercepted the attack by grabbing the thug's hand in a flash, than pulled with all his might. Caught off-balance, the thug found himself helpless as he was hurled at his boss. A loud thud resounded trough the alleyway as the boss caught his underling. While the force of the impact wasn't quite enough to knock out the high human stage fighter it managed to force him back a couple steps.

" Darn you." the tall thug cursed his underling and the kid.

Making use of the time in which two other thug's were occupied Arun launched an attack at the remaining underling that was blocking his path.

" Bear punch " This technique was one of the most basic ones taught at his secondary school. It was just a low human stage technique and didn't have much power by itself but coupled with his concentrated ki technique it packed quite a punch.

The mid-stage underling managed to block his blow but his guard was broken by the impact, arms flinging in the air, leaving him open to a second strike. Instead of striking however, Arun used the opening to summersault the man.

Now, with no adversary blocking his path, Arun concentrated his ki in his legs.

" That was fun. Sadly I don't have time to continue this now so I shall bid my farawell! "

" You punk! Don't you think you can get away so easily! " The tall thug, now fully recovered from the shock leaped towards Arun.

" Oops, that's dangerous " Arun started sprinting away from the scene. However, even with his ki concentrated in his legs he wasn't managing to lose the high-human stage.

" If you come back here I can still let you go whiteout being harmed... too much " The tall thug, which was getting increasingly frustrated as the chase went on spat.

" You know I'm running towards a police station... right? " Arun smirked.

Realising his mistake the thug stopped dead in his tracks.

" Kid! If I catch you again around these parts I'll break your legs! "

Than he finally disappeared out of the line of sight.

Arun silently thanked God for his ki concentrating technique. This technique allowed him to contend with high human cultivators alltough he was just in low human stage himself.

Under usual circumstances, any other cultivators ki was covering their whole body, it was just the natural state of being, ki existing only in one part of the body was just unheard of. This was due to the fact that ki flowed from the dantian from the moment a human was born, becoming an unchallenged constant in the human mind. It took Arun weeks until he managed to wrest some control over the ki flow from his subconscious. Probably the most successful of his crazy, outlandish experiments.

"yawn... I'd better head to home now... this was exhausting..."

" Yaawn... " Arun, who had barely woken up a couple minutes ago rubbed his eyes.

" Arun darling, could you not sleep last night? Are you feeling anxious about the exam? " an elderly woman sitting in front of him asked.

" Don't worry grandma, I'm fine... I'll definitely come back with good news today! "

" Alright darling, but don't push yourself too much. I know you're working hard... just, remember, grandma loves you either way. " she said while smiling warmly. " Now, hurry up and eat your food before it gets cold. "

" Thanks ma! "

While eating his food Arun realised that there was something more to the dish of mashed potatoes than usual... there was some meat in there. A guilty smile formed on his face. Grandma's pension was barely enough to keep them both fed, she must have went the extra mile to get this meat. It made him feel even worse considering what he was about to ask.

" Ma, I'm sorry, but could I take the bus to school and back today? "

The elderly woman was a bit surprised by this request but she nodded. She wouldn't show it past her smile, but Arun knew inside she was trying to figure out how to make ends meet. After all, just a trip would cost enough to keep them fed for almost a day.

" Don't worry ma... I'll pull us out of this situation as soon as I can. And one day, when I become able, I will create a way out for everyone in our situation as well. "

" I'll leave you to it, little inventor "

***

" Welcome everyone to the forging round of the exam. I'm professor Dan, chief of the forging department inside the Department of education and Guidance, and I am proud to oversee this year's exam along with teacher Wayne of the Divine flame high and master George, member of Xu enterprises. " the message was related trough a 10 meters by 10 meters projection in the waiting hall of the exam.

" Teacher Wayne of Divine flame and master George? There sure are some big figures present this year! " an excited kid reacted.

" Yea, but I heard that both of them are pretty strict... the exam might be tough this year " A more worried apprentice responded

" Who cares? If you manage to make an impression on any of the your set! "

The mixture of excited and concerned chattering stopped when the hologram of the chief continued his speech.

" The will be no preset theme for this year's exam. Every student is free to create whatever they like. "

A loud cheer erupted trough the room. The students quite happy with this decision.

* So, they want every student to come up with their best creation. But this means that the evaluation criteria will be set very high as well... How exciting * Around wished nothing more than to start at this point.

" The rest will proceed as per usual. Every student is to take the necessary materials for forging from their designated warehouse and than proceed to the designated forging room for creating. The warehouse as well as the number of the room will be shown on your pre-assinged bracelet. You have 2 hours at your disposal. Good luck. "

.

Arun looked down at his bracelet. * East silo, room 990. Is this a bug? The room and the silo are on completely opposite sides of each other *

He clicked his tong on his bad luck but nevertheless he headed to the silo.

* If I hurry up I may still be able to find some good ingredients *

10 minutes later he was finally entered the warehouse. A couple students were still scrambling about grabbing whatever material they could find but most of them were already gone. Arun walked trough the lines of tall shelves examining their contents carefully.

* Fused copper... black iron... 10 years- old animal bones... none of the better ingredients in here have synergy... Even if I build my machine with them the overall performance will be weak and there will be many flaws. * Arun continued to look for ingredients but all the good ones were gone... and it was getting late already, he had to start forging soon.

* Do I have to compromise? But if I do so my marks will take a dive... On the other hand the situation will only worsen the more I wait... Hold on... what's that? " an old dusty box was sitting untouched in the corner of the room. Thanks to its shabby looks none of the students where even paying them attention.

The lid of the box protested as it was opened, as if discontent of being awoken from its ancient slumber, but it still slid away after a couple good pushes. A gentle light reflected on the contents of the box. Arun picked up one of the materials and examined it carefully. But than he clicked his tongue, unhappy with his findings.

Steel... plain, old, steel. Well- forged by the looks of it, and considering its state after many years but still, this is an obsolete material, a relic of the old age. Steel used to be one of the best components of the technological age but it quickly fell off during the cultivation age. The reason was simple: it was unable to store or conduct ki. Add this to the emergence of new materials from the hidden realms of the 7 great cultivators and steel and it's fate was clear. Some of the old world materials could still be reforged into useful items, such as iron being turned to black iron, but this... this was useless.

But something about the word ' useless ' just didn't sit well with Arun. He was a firm believer that everyone and everything had a role in the world. Thus, he kept thinking while fiddling the steel bar.

* In the old age, they used electricity in order to animate steel puppets... can i do the same?, While ki can't be conducted with this material a miniature thunder array should be able to provide the electricity needed to control this puppet, and if i link it with the bone marrow to manage the activation of the thunder array...Yes! this will work! *