Gleam Karma Cultivator Isekai

Yeo drew his sickle and chain and spun it lazily by his side. Dark water gathered around Bella’s arm, forming itself into a hand axe.

“You made two of those when you sparred Pete,” Yeo observed.

“You aren’t Pete,” Bella replied. Water sprayed from beneath her feet and she burst into motion, leaping at the boy.

Yeo twirled his kusarigama, sending its sharp blade whipping down at her. Bella twisted out of the way, barely avoiding getting cut, but didn’t slow her dash in the slightest. With a flourish, Yeo pulled the sickle back in to strike at Bella from a blind spot.

Water rippled around her, forming a shield and catching the weapon. Yeo vaulted back, dodging a swing from Bella’s axe, and drew several thin, silver blades from a pouch at his side. He whipped them at Bella.

An eruption of water knocked them aside. Yeo’s fingers twitched and the thin knives shuddered midair, righting themselves and shooting for her again. Most faltered against her water shield, but one slipped through.

Bella somehow managed to shift her weight, turning what should have been a fairly serious stab into a thin line of blood across a shoulder.

“Ha!” Yeo crowed. “First b–”

A tendril of water snapped out from a puddle formed during their fight, striking Yeo in the chin and knocking his head back. He stumbled back, cursing.

“Second blow to me,” Bella said. “And mine was considerably more solid than yours.”

Yeo snapped his arm out, pulling the sickle back to his hands. He spun it, then sent the blade flying out once more. Water surged around Bella and she dashed in at him. Water splashed and metal scored across the ground as the two danced around the courtyard, trading blows.

Vaulting back, Yeo’s kusarigama spun around him, a shimmering ribbon of metal that moved so fast that Chance couldn’t even figure out where it ended. Yeo drew a deep breath, then dropped into a low squat and thrust one hand forward.

The air around him shimmered and he bared his teeth in a grin. “Metal Dragon Art: Twin Heads!”

“Seriously? You call your techniques out as you use them?” Bella asked, aghast. Yeo didn’t respond. Links of metal leapt from his pouch and trailed up his spinning kusarigama. He clapped his hands together and, pulled them apart. A second sickle and chain formed in his off hand, and Yeo sent both of them arcing toward Bella.

If the previous battle had been difficult to follow, the new one was chaos. Metal twisted around Yeo like a storm, moving with such speed that Chance had absolutely no idea how he was avoiding getting tangled up with his own attacks.

Bella was pushed onto the backfoot as Yeo advanced on her, forcing her to use her water defensively and not giving any chances for her to strike back. One of the blades arced through the water and scored across her shoulder.

“Going to give up?” Yeo called. “That’s two to me.”

Her face darkened and Bella lifted her hands like a composer. Droplets of water gathered around her, then shot out at Yeo, binding themselves into his clothes and reaching for his arms to try and restrain his movement.

Despite his situation, Yeo didn’t hesitate. He redoubled his attack, pressing Bella even harder. And then it was over. One of Yeo’s spinning chains snapped, leaving an opening in his defenses, and two thin blades of black water scored across his chest, cutting his shirt open.

“Three points,” Bella said, lowering her hands.

Yeo looked down at the disintegrating chain on the ground. “You broke my technique, but I didn't see you using one of your own. What kind of Essence do you cultivate? That doesn't seem like something normal water can do.”

“Not water,” Bella replied with a small smirk. “But that was a fairly impressive technique. Not bad.”

“Not bad yourself,” Yeo said, yanking his sickle back into his hand and returning it to his side. “You didn’t use any techniques, but your control over your Essence is really good for someone our age. How long have you been cultivating?”

“A while.”

Yeo gave her a once over, then shrugged. “Fair enough. I’ll admit that you’re a better cultivator than I am. But if my aura was stronger, you would have lost that. Not a good look for someone who’s been doing this for a few years.”

Bella crossed her arms, then let them relax and gave him a curt nod. “You’re right. I haven’t fought many other Shikari, and nobody that used techniques like yours. This shouldn’t have been so close.”

“Both of you looked really impressive from my end,” Chance said. “Are you really just both starting? It feels like you’re masters.”

They both burst into laughter.

“We’re nowhere near masters,” Bella said. “We probably only looked this good because we were somewhat close to each other in overall skill. Stronger Shikari would have crushed either of us with one move. Their aura alone might have been enough to take Yeo out.”

Yeo rolled his eyes, but didn’t refute it. “I never liked auras much. They aren’t interesting.”

“Auras are kind of like your defenses, right?” Chance asked.

“Defenses and what keeps your Essence following your desires when its next to someone else.”

“I see.,” Chance said with a nod. “Does that mean my gold luck-mist won’t work as much against someone with strong aura?”

“Precisely,” Yeo said. “Then again, if you beat them first, no need for an aura.”

“How’d that work for you?” Bella challenged.

“Bah. I looked cooler than you anyway,” Yeo said, turning his nose up. He paused for a moment, then grinned sheepishly. “But I really should do a little more cultivation so I don’t fall too far behind.”

Bella nodded. “And it might be time for me to start looking at techniques to get a better way to finish enemies off.”

“Well, it looks like we’ve all got things we can improve in,” Chance said diplomatically.

“I’ll help you train anything with techniques,” Yeo said, thrusting a thumb against his chest. “Our resident princess can help you with cultivation. That way, you’ll get the best of both worlds. How’s that sound?”

“Princess?” Bella asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah, because you were too high and mighty to hang with us,” Yeo replied with a smug grin. “I told you, I’m not letting you off as easily as Chance.”

Bella sighed and turned away from him. “Insufferable. But he’s got the right idea. You might as well pick up the things we’re best at.”

“That sounds good to me!” Chance said. “Can we start now?”

“With what?” they both asked at once, then glared at each other.

“Cultivation,” Chance said.

Yamish already gave me enough to practice with my urumi, but this is like real magic. No offense, Yeo, but magic is way cooler than a sword.

Yeo scrunched his nose up. “Man, you just like cultivation because you didn’t have magic on Earth.”

“Am I that easy to read?” Chance asked, rubbing the back of his head.

“It wasn’t a hard guess,” Yeo grumbled. “Just make sure you work on both things, or you’ll end up like one of us.”

“Enough delaying,” Bella said. She paused, her brow creasing slightly. Chance followed her gaze out into the road, where three people around their age had gathered on the other side of the street.

“Finally noticed us?” a tall boy with fluffy brown hair asked, grinning.

“Jake. What are you doing here?” Yeo’s voice lacked all of its usual cheer.

“Same as you, bud,” Jake replied. “Gibson came calling. They’ve got a bunch of new Shikari teams starting up again. Looks like they tossed you in one without the funds for a training area – or do you just enjoy causing a scene everywhere you go?”

“Maybe a little bit of both,” Yeo said, crossing his arms. “What do you want?”

“From you? Nothing. I’m looking forward to seeing the rankings, though. Have fun playing around.”

Jake raised a hand, chuckling, and walked off with his team. Yeo’s eyes narrowed at the boy’s back.

“I’m sensing some bad blood,” Bella observed.

“Just someone from my hometown,” Yeo said with a dismissive shrug. “Don’t worry about him. We’ve just got a bit of a rivalry. Chance, if you’re going to start training with Bella, I’m going to go get some cultivation in. Find me whenever you guys stop, ‘kay?”

“Sounds good,” Chance said, suspecting that they hadn’t gotten anywhere near the full story. If Yeo didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t press – yet. Yeo headed back inside.

“We might as well go into the courtyard behind the house,” Bella said. “It’s a little small, but cultivating shouldn’t take much room.”

Chance shrugged and followed her through the house and into the small dirt yard behind it, where Yeo and Pete had tested his abilities the previous day.

“So, do you know anything about your Essence yet?” Bella asked.

“Yep. It’s this… gold mist stuff,” Chance said, bringing it to his fingertips. The familiar burning sensation churned in his chest and ran through his veins, sending a shiver through his body.

“Okay, that’s good. You don’t know what your Essence actually is, though, right?”

“No clue.”

“That’s what we’ll start with, then. Do you know how to meditate?”

“Uh… cross your legs and close your eyes?”

Bella rolled her eyes. “No. I mean, that can be part of it, but it’s far from the point. Sit down and make sure you’re comfortable. I prefer meditating on my knees, but cross-legged works too.”

Chance followed her instructions, sitting down in the same position that Yamish seemed to favor.

“The point of meditation is to clear your mind, and that’s mostly done through your breathing,” Bella instructed, kneeling across from him. “By focusing on your breathing, you can clear your mind. Then, once it’s clear, you gently direct your attention to your Essence and try to discern what you can of it. That’s it. In theory, very simple.”

“In practice, not as much?” Chance guessed.

“Exactly. The universe is vast. Truly gaining understanding of your Essence is incredibly difficult, and every small step is an enormous struggle. There are dozens of different things that’ll stand in your way – like impurities – but in the end, the most important thing you can do to cultivate is meditation.”

“Okay. So… just focus on my breathing?”

“Some people have special techniques that help accelerate their cultivation,” Bella said. “Unfortunately, those are pretty expensive. I don’t know anything really fancy, but I can tell you what works for me. Slow your breaths down and make them deeper – pretend you’re breathing from your chest rather than your throat.”

Chance nodded, changing his breathing to match her instructions.

“Good. Now, try to constrict your throat a little bit. Not enough to be uncomfortable, but – yeah, that’s good,” Bella nodded as Chance followed her directions once more. “Now, close your eyes and picture something serene. I like to use a lake. Whenever a thought comes up, acknowledge it for a moment, letting it run its course, and then let it fall beneath the lake. Do that until your mind is empty. Then, once it is, focus on your Essence.”

“Okay,” Chance said, memorizing everything and repeating it to himself a few times to make sure he hadn’t missed a point. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.” Bella gave him a wry smile. “Trust me, it’s harder than you think. Especially with impurities, which you should have a lot of given that you’re from Earth. The more impurities in your body, the harder it’ll be to connect with your Essence.”

Man, is everyone from Earth really that shafted? I really owe Bob a drink or something the next time I see him.

“I’ll give it a shot, then,” Chance said.

“I’ll be meditating as well. Try not to bother me unless you’re really stuck.” Bella relaxed and closed her eyes, slowing her breathing.