I climb the ruins behind the Hestia Church, heading towards my usual spot. I wonder if one day I'll be able to consider this place as my second bedroom.

Every step I take burrows into the malleable ground a bit further than they should. Not a surprise, because I am carrying a huge bucket of water—just as always when going cultivating.

What is surprising is the fact that I can now sense even this if I focus long enough.

I was wrong about what my upgraded senses meant. Despite the violent breeze of the night bringing the bite of the cold with it, I don't feel anything.

The darker coloration of the walls of the Church, the ambient humidity lingering on my skin, the grey and monotone sky, where the sun has already disappeared, the glory of the moon barely visible on the nearly frozen puddles on the ground—rain was pouring down recently.

Despite being majorly hidden behind clouds, the light of moon crashing down on the glassy ground is enough for me to see the world as if it is illuminated by the sun. Another effect of my cultivation I guess.

Each of my steps produced a crisp and sharp sound—the water layered against the ground, turned into ice, breaking under my weight. I don't pay any attention to that, barely able to register the low temperature against my skin.

All of this, resulting from the concealed essence flowing through my cells. With each step, I concentrate on the rotation of my Ki around my body, suffusing every inch of my frame. The outside world becomes detached, the sensations become muted—I walk, yet I can't feel the ground anymore. I breathe, yet I can't feel the air anymore.

Lost in the beauty of the hidden light of life, I concentrate deeply on the movement of the glowing liquid inside of me. It's all imagery that helps me focus.

From head to toe, from left to right, the Ki never stops. It feeds me and feeds on itself, consciously or unconsciously making the Ki flow sufficient to generate its growth. It was like the helix of DNA, building upon itself, infinitely. Or at least, that's how I imagine it.

What I don't have to imagine however is the wall that I walk into head first, producing a dull noise.

"Ouch!" I furiously whisper, breaking out of my trance. Of course, I had to bump my head against a wall at some point!

Looking at the now slightly indented surface of the stone wall, I sigh.

Note to self, never try to cultivate—even in a bastardized way—while walking.

Then I look around and sigh for a second time. I even went in the wrong direction...

The ringing pain on my forehead is already disappearing, I head towards my place with more assured pace—this time keeping my eyes open.

However, even with my concentration broken, the cycle of Ki never stops running. A testament to my progress as a cultivator.

My footsteps becoming brisk and swift, I arrive at the little space I made for myself. The building I chose doesn't have a roof, is slightly tilted to the right, but is stable and more importantly, big enough that I can do some experiments here.

First, my magic.

I want to test out something that I've thought about for quite a while now.

I exhale and close my eyes, then reach for my spiritual pool of Ki—the soul sea. It is vastly different from how it looked the first time I tried to cultivate, it is now bright, airy, and more importantly, my actual soul has gotten bigger and gained a hazy shine. Instead of being just one big ball of condensed gas like it was before, it now looks slightly solidified with some vapor coming out of it.

I don't know if it counts as narcissism, but… I can never get enough of looking at my soul.

But that's not what I came here for. I draw upon my inner Ki. From then, I changed its nature to Wood Ki. Coaxing it into the physical world, the beam of green light shoots out of my extended palm, into the wall standing in front of me.

The soundless projectile results in a quiet buzz when it hits the stone. However, it only takes a few seconds for something to grow out of the spot of impact. Multiple flowers take root in the cracks of the wall right before my eyes—seemingly out of nowhere.

I watch with wide eyes at the process unfolding before me.

They grow, until they reach an adolescent stage, not quite fully grown yet but well on their way.

N-No way...

"Haaaah… Hahahahaha!" I can't help but laugh at the results. Maybe I have some talent for gardening now…

I shake my head, ready to test out something else. Repeating the same steps, I instead keep a good amount of Green Ki in my palm, stopping it at the barrier between the air and my flesh, ready to shoot it out.

The heat of the energy feels very comforting, but at the same time, I get the nagging suspicion that it is currently promoting growth in my hand.

If my grasp is stronger in this hand than in the other one, I'll have to fix it later…

I sigh, knowing that I should have probably prepared myself in advance for this.

"Uhh…" I stammer, quite frankly not knowing how to name this attack.

After careful consideration—that lasted a couple of seconds—I decided to give this new skill of mine a generic name. Knowing that Green Ki promotes growth and heals wounds, I decided to name this…

"Healing Projectile!"

I never was good with names anyway...

However, my words have the intended effect. Instead of the natural feeling of letting go of my Wood Ki, the glowing energy is overtaken by something.

My arm is flung back as the Ki inside of it all but disappears, bursting through the air. Instead of the soundless projectile from before, the missile—that now lightens up the room easily and takes quite a bit of my vision—produces a fizzling sound, crashing on the wall nearly instantly.

*THUD*

A green mist oozing out of the zone of impact is the only proof of the existence of my new spell. I wait, knowing what is coming…

I wait…

And nothing happens.

"...Huh?" I blurt out, my mouth gaping as the unexpected results of the experiment shock me.

Shouldn't it make more flowers grow? Or fungus? Or anything?!

I walk towards the wall with careful steps. The green fog covering the collision has disappeared, and nothing is left of the spell. Except…

"It's fixed?!" I nearly screamed out in shock.

Wait, wait, wait for a second!

No more cracks, no more crevices, no more breaches could be seen on the wall. Or at least for a major part of the wall around where the spell crashed.

Ah, I see! Instead of having the normal properties of Wood Ki, which means growth and healing, the name I gave to the spell made it so that the projectile was only a healing projectile!

I can't stop the smirk from creeping on my face.

"Hahahahaha! That's perfect!" I exclaim, talking to myself.

With this, my path as a healer is all but confirmed!

I confirm my theory by observing the place where my first trial crashed. The wall is indeed 'healed', but so much less than what happened with the second projectile…

Then I begin to wonder, how much money would being a level 2 healer bring me?

Since I couldn't really out myself as a first level adventurer with a magic as handy as healing magic, I'll have to wait for my inevitable rank up to display this.

Things to think about… After all, I know that my weapon, something forged by Hephaestus isn't free. And while Hestia never told me anything about the price, there's no way that the red-haired goddess didn't ask for payment.

I shake my head, deciding that it is useless to think about it right now when I have better things to do.

Like cultivation.

I look down on the floor and brush its surface to get the dust off. Deciding that it's good enough, I sit down in the lotus pose—something that I couldn't reproduce until I came here.

My body has really improved in every aspect.

I enter my meditation by inhaling slowly, then exhaling slowly. I repeat the process over and over again, my eyes closed and my muscles relaxed.

The tension leaves my body steadily, as the picture of my soul becomes clearer and clearer. In exchange, the real world becomes smaller and smaller. The noises are muted, and the light diminishes until becoming extinct.

My consciousness gets further away from the physical plane with each breath I take. My eyelids are shut sealed and my body stands in the same position, completely unmoving.

I inhale, I exhale, I inhale, I exhale…

*Oooom*

Suddenly the world is set alight. Far more luminous than before, far fuller than before, far…

It is just more. I stopped using my eyes to see, I stopped using my ears to hear, my hands to touch…

The only intermediary between the world and me is my Ki. In this state, I can interact with greater freedom than before with the physical plane. I can see the yellow and white streams of energy flowing around me. I can see the dense brown matter suffusing the walls of this ruined building. I can feel the green spark outside of this city, calling to me.

The world is so different in this state… and so I pick.

I draw the yellow vibrancy out of the air and inside my body. The world of Danmachi is quite Ki-deprived, but the fact that it is a resource that nobody else but me can utilize compensates for the lack of Ki.

Since Air is my greatest affinity—although I can't use it properly yet—the yellow 'particles' approach me fairly easily. They enter my body through my skin, seemingly uncaring of the physical barrier.

Slowly, I mold it to my will. The mental effort necessary for this step has become lesser and lesser as time went on, proving my betterment with the arts of cultivation.

My soul sea welcomes the new energy and makes it my own. With this action being repeated, faster and faster, the steps all blur together, quickening the stream of Ki entering my body.

I can feel my existence growing, my soul is vibrating at the sensation, bouncing like a well-fed child. The colors in my soul seas intensify with each step I take. My method is crude, quite inefficient, and targeted only towards Air Ki due to my lack of experience with the act, but it worked.

I'm cultivating. With my own technique.

An unfathomable amount of time passes for me, as I become one with the world itself. For each drop I take, I give a bit in return—the earth, the air, and everything in between taking my tributes. The cycle continues infinitely.

My soul pushes forward, running towards a goal even unknown to me. It greedily takes the vitality from the atmosphere and uses it as fuel. The cycle quickens.

It goes faster, faster, and faster… until it crashes.

The obstacle didn't stand a chance.

I take the first step, my gaze fixed upon the stars, high up in the sky.

My eyes abruptly open.

I huff under the sudden change as if I just woke up from a nightmare. My clothes are sticking to me, as if a thin layer of cold sweat stuck them to me. My limbs are slightly unresponsive, and phantom pain assails me from everywhere. These sensations are very uncomfortable, but they disappear as soon as I realize they exist.

"Haaaa… Haaaa… Haaaa…" I pant, feeling winded by the experience.

I look around, my eyes steadily getting used to the abrupt sensation of the light of the sun. The morning sun started to show its glory.

"How… huff... How much time passed?" I ask myself, slightly struggling to get up.

My body didn't change, except for the layer of sweat that covered it. I'm grateful that my past self had the intelligence to bring a bucket of water.

I remove my T-shirt and I pour the cold water on my torso. The chilling liquid hitting my body makes me let out a long sigh bordering on being a groan due to my contentment.

As the streaming sounds of the water that ended up on the floor ends. I start to chuckle, in disbelief at what happened to me.

This chuckle grows into a full-blown laugh as the joy overtakes my mind.

"I did it!" I declare, throwing a punch in the air. A habit of mine.

Finally! I'm officially a cultivator now! Now my ancestors are finally pleased to see me take my first step- I blink.

Wait, let's not bring my ancestors in this, they have done nothing wrong.

Still, the silly smile on my face never leaves, even as I walk back towards the Church. Despite having spent the night outside meditating, I don't feel even a hint of fatigue, quite the contrary.

I have never felt as invigorated as now. My eyes are wide open as I bounce with every step I take.

An old melody comes to mind, and I find myself humming a song from my old world.

And of course, when I try to use just a bit of Ki to quicken my pace, I end up with my face in another wall.

"Again?!" I cry out due to the injustice. The Ki in my body felt more responsive than ever and moved to my will. Unlike previously where the energy needed to be coaxed and lured into listening, now the energy truly feels like it's mine.

I pay no mind to the hole in the wall I just made with my forehead, or to the way the ruined building starts to tilt dangerously as I just destroyed the last supporting pillar of it.

My soul sea is brimming with life-force, my reserves of Ki having nearly doubled.

For this realization, the broken wall in front of me is but a cheap price, even as the entire structure crumbles.