Monster Cultivation

The kids that were injured by the exploding starfishes were brought to the village's core weaver's hospital.

Many kids from the cultivation academy were in multiple rooms, taking turns to see how their injured friends were doing.

Shun visited each kid, but every single one of them were unconscious. So he barely spent a minute on each room.

He left the room of the tenth kid and was now about to visit the eleventh. Of course, like always, there was a crowd following him.

It wasn't just his classmates, but a lot of doctors, nurses, cleaners, and staff in general had their eyes on him.

Many never got a chance to see him before, only hearing about him. They couldn't pass on the chance to see him in person even if it meant neglecting some of their duties.

Shun knew this but had grown somewhat accustomed to it. It was weird, but that was just how things were.

Shun walked to the last person he had to visit. He knocked on the door, he wasn't expecting a response.

"Who is it?" A young feminine voice came from inside.

I thought the medics said they were all unconscious.

"It's me, Shun. Me and others have come to say hi."

"Oh..." She was the girl with the armor ability

"Can I come inside?"

"Sorry... No. I look really horrible."

"Neila, you're injured. How groomed you are doesn't matt--"

"Groomed? My body is burnt! From my feet to my face is nothing but burns!"

While exploding starfishes didn't release fire they released a lot of heat.

Shun felt horrible and foolish. He came off as a fool. Shun had been receiving a lot of romantic attention from the opposite sex to the point that almost all conversations with girls led to it.

As a result, he thought Neila didn't let him in because she cared how he would judge her appearance.

Shun responded, "Sorry... But you're going to be okay. I'm sure!"

"You don't have to act like you care. It's not like we ever really talked anyway."

"... I do care."

"You can go away."

"Why are you so angry?"

"Because my body is ruined? Because I wanted your attention so damn bad, I put myself and my friends in a mess up situation. Because I'm angry that I'm scarred for life. Angry that I'm ugly. I'm ugly now! Because I'm a fool, a foolish fool... If I never gave a shit about your attention... I wouldn't have chased Drew, and I wouldn't have had my image destroyed."

Shun had paid attention to everything she said, but he didn't get it. Especially the part where she made it seem it was his fault, and Drew.

"We didn't talk much. You even mentioned that. So why would you care about my attention. And how's Drew got anything to do with this?!"

"... How the hell are you the guy with the top scale core? I'm baffled, you know? It's like you are stupid. Mentally messed in the head. Why do I care about your attention? That's like the clan patriarch asking why the clansmen pay attention to what he says. You dumbass! It's because you are supposed to be great!

Maybe Drew isn't a cheater. Hahhaha... I can't believe Drew is the one that's amazing, and you're just a goddamn disappointment."

This was the first time someone said anything negative towards Shun since his core was opened.

His stomach felt hollowed. Drew was cool, sure. But Drew wasn't that amazing... He was... a cheater.

"What's so amazing about him?! He just has a medium scale core."

"And yet, he's smarter than you, cultivated better than you, and he just isn't a disappointment like you."

Shun said nothing and left the hospital.

Shun entered the cultivation classroom. It wasn’t time for class, so Miss Maroon was surprised.

Shun appeared tired and wore a complex expression.

She stood and asked warmly, "What is it, Shun?"

"Back when my scale was tested, could there have been a mistake?"

She looked confused. "I don’t understand... What makes you ask that?"

"Everyone says Drew is cheating, but what if he isn’t? What if I’m not the special one—what if he is?"

Her eyes flared with intensity. "No!"

Shun flinched.

She continued, "For generations, we’ve used the Gluttonous Ferna Vines. They’ve always been accurate. You are the special one. You’re the most blessed in the clan’s history. You’re more precious than even the patriarch."

That took him aback—especially the part about being more precious than the patriarch. But her words weren’t enough to convince him.

"Then why is Drew better than me?"

"He isn’t. You just need to prove it. Go to him, demand the truth. And when he lies, set him straight. He’s your brother. It’s your right as the elder to set an example."

"Brother...? We’re not even related by blood, and we’ve barely interacted."

"That doesn’t matter. You must set the example—not just as his brother, but as the clan’s shining star. Many are watching, expecting great things from you. You can’t let your light fade."

"I don't know. It seems that--"

She grabbed hold of his shoulders. "Set an example. You were not chosen wrong. Do you think you were chosen wrong? Do you want to go back to being the kid you were?"

"No... I don't want to."

"Then start acting like the man you want to become."

"Drew!"

Drew, who had been reading another book in the library for clues about the comet, turned toward the voice.

It was Shun.

Drew stood, exited the building, and saw Shun standing there, fierce. A crowd of onlookers had gathered.

Drew asked, "What’s this about?"

"Tell me the truth—are you cheating?"

The hell?

"No."

"Then why are you better than me?"

The arrogance of Shun was starting to grow, and that annoyed Drew.

"Maybe the heavens favor me more than you."

Shun clenched his fist. "You’re lying. Just tell me the truth."

"I work harder than you? Hard work beats talent?"

Drew didn’t even believe that himself. It was nonsense. Yes, he worked hard, but it was his future life’s experiences that gave him an edge. He was skilled in cultivation because he had already 'experienced' it once. In his alternate future life, he had sought countless ways to grow stronger—not relying on the heavens for talent but earning it through effort, tricks, and other means.

Shun took a deep breath and assumed a battle stance. "You’re mocking the natural order."

Drew stared at him, recalling their life together in the alternate future.

A sudden rage welled up inside him, but he quickly suppressed it.

He had to avoid fighting Shun. Nothing good would come of it. Maybe he should lie and admit to cheating... No.

Getting kicked out of school and losing access to its resources would be disastrous.

Drew knew what he had to do. He took a battle stance as well.

He would lose the fight.

Shun punched toward him, though he was far out of reach. A long metal spear appeared out of thin air and shot toward Drew.

Drew grunted as he dodged to the side, barely evading the spear. His cultivation level was higher, but only by a small margin.

Shun still had far more Ferna reserves than him. Drew had a plan, but not with a spear lodged in him.

Ferna gathered around Drew's hands. The 'hands' were also summoned over his arms. He fed them a lot of ether, intensifying their swirling form, and then dashed at Shun.

Shun backed up, rapidly summoning more spears. Drew threw the 'hands' ahead of him, deflecting or weakening most of the spears.

Shun had created nine spears in total. Each one should have consumed around 7% of his Ferna reserves. His regeneration rate was only 6% every 15 minutes.

"Damn it!" Shun shouted, noticing how little distance remained between him and Drew.

He summoned another spear, this time grabbing it and thrusting toward Drew’s shoulder. He wasn’t trying to kill him, just beat him.

Drew clasped his hands together, smashing the Whirlwind Hands monster into each other. The impact caused a powerful blast of wind that sent both of them flying over five meters away.

They hit the ground and rolled. Drew’s shoulder throbbed—Shun's spear had pierced it slightly.

Shun had painfully landed on his jaw, digging into the dirt before rolling a bit.

This was preferable. He would lose, dirtying and humbling Shun in the process.

Shun’s ego needed to be checked, and this would help. Drew got to his feet and raised both hands. "I admit defeat."

Shun stared at Drew in shock. "What...?"

"You win. My shoulder’s killing me."

"No. No, no, no! You think this is some kind of joke? You’re not going to accept defeat. You’re going to fight me until I beat you!"

"I’ve lost. How about that? There’s no way I can fight someone as strong as you, dear brother."

"We... are not brothers..."

Shun was furious, but he didn’t resume the fight. He just walked away.

Drew dusted off his clothes and went his own way.

Hidden in the shadows, the investigator and Miss Maroon watched with displeasure.

She asked, "Why do you think he lost that fight?"

The investigator replied, "He’s afraid of Shun?"

"I don’t think so. But I don't think his reasoning is any good. That child is disgusting."

"You want to kill him?"

"No. He’s skilled. But we need to distance him from the other students. Order must be maintained. I’ll talk to the headmaster about it."

"I see. Good luck."

"And you with your investigation."

"Hm... There’s not much to it. I’ll return to it later."

Miss Maroon didn’t like that, but there wasn’t much she could do.

She stepped out of the shadows.

As Drew drank coconut water, he wondered to himself: Did he mess up?

If Shun’s mood soured and Drew was the reason, that would be dangerous for him.

But at the same time, he doubted they would kill him over it. If he had beaten Shun in front of an audience, though, they would surely have taken drastic action from the shadows.

Shun was the star. He was the one most blessed by the heavens. The natural order said he was the apex predator. How could Drew convey that an apex wasn’t always what it seemed?

The effect it would have on other students and Shun would be detrimental.

The next day. Drew was eating in the cafeteria. And unlike usual, Shun was by himself, ignoring the questions of others.

Some of them wasn't there for the fight, so they were curious where he got those scratches.

Of course, others answered the question for him.

"Drew injured him."

And every time Shun heard that, he would remember what Neila said. That Drew was the amazing one. And he was the disappointing one.