Gleam Karma Cultivator Isekai

“Okay, my turn,” Chance said, shaking his head to clear it. “Can you actually use that weapon?”

“Oh, my kusarigama?” Yeo asked, raising the curved blade. “Yeah. I’ve been training with it for years. I always knew I wanted to be a Shikari, so my dad got me started from a young age. I go ham with this thing. I’d show you, but we’re inside a room. This doesn’t work too well in enclosed spaces, and I’d probably end up cutting something on accident.”

Chance barely kept his eye from twitching at the lingo.

“Your dad taught you Earth lingo?”

“My mom made him! She’s a huge fan of Earth as well,” Yeo said with a laugh.

“I couldn’t imagine,” Chance said with a grin of his own. “That’s awesome, though. I’ve never actually used a weapon.”

“That’s crazy. You were like a civilian on Earth, then?”

“Yeah. Most people were.”

“So there really aren’t monsters or anything?” Yeo leaned forward, his face turning serious. “There are just people?”

“Well, there are animals and the like, but monsters are just things in fantasy stories,” Chance replied.

“Wow. My dad told me that too, but it’s hard to believe,” Yeo said, leaning back and shaking his head. “So there’s really no magic or anything?”

“None,” Chance confirmed. “Well, not in the same way that you guys have it.”

“I can’t imagine living like that.” Yeo let out a disbelieving whistle. “That seems so boring.”

“Magic really is incredible,” Chance agreed. “I don’t even know what mine does, but I don’t know what I’d do without it. Wait – you’ve got it too?”

“Almost everyone does. When you arrived, you were given a core, right? I heard that Earthlings don’t have them.”

Chance frowned. He hadn’t been given anything as far as he was aware, but he had eaten Bob’s Cheeto. Something told him that wasn’t what Yeo was referring to, though.

“Yeah,” Chance lied. “Is that how you get magic?”

“It’s more like it’s how you access it,” Yeo replied. “By the way, most people don’t call it magic. We call it Essence, and it’s the energy of the universe. The act of trying to understand it is called cultivation. It’s incredible. You won’t believe what people can do until you see it for yourself. I once saw a Shikari literally move a mountain to crush a horde of monsters.”

“Holy shit,” Chance said, his eyes going wide. “So everyone gets it? Can you do the same stuff as I can, then? And I can also move mountains and stuff?”

“Probably not,” Yeo said. He tapped the sickle and chain at his side. “It’s impossible to actually try to understand Essence as a whole, so you focus on a part of it. I’m pursuing the Essence of Metal. It helps me use my kusarigama, among other things. It depends on what you really resonate with. You could hypothetically try to follow the Essence that I am, but it might not be the one that really fits you, you know? If it doesn’t fit you, then you won’t be able to go as far along the path as you could have otherwise.”

“I see,” Chance said slowly. “So the more I understand my this Essence I’m following, the stronger I get?”

“Among other things.” Yeo nodded. “People that are far along in their pursuit of Essence also live far longer, slow or stop aging, and become resistant to most forms of disease.”

“Wait. You can become immortal?”

“Pretty much,” Yeo replied. “That’s really difficult, though. I’ve never met anyone that got that far along their path, but I know it’s possible.”

Chance rocked back, trying to come to terms with Yeo’s words.

Doesn’t that mean you can basically become a god once you understand enough of the Essence you’re cultivating?

“It’s a lot, huh?” Yeo asked with a grin. “My dad told me it nearly gave him a heart attack when he learned about it. I’ve always wanted to tell someone to see that reaction myself. There’s a whole bunch more too, but I think I should probably save it. It isn’t as important.”

“Yeah,” Chance said with a weak nod. “That might be smart. But… what if you don’t know what your Essence path is?”

“Depends,” Yeo said. “Some people cultivate their body rather than trying to learn a greater truth – that’s pretty common. A lot of people do at least a little body cultivation, but some focus on it completely. But, if you’re cultivating a concept – that’s seeking Essence. You might not know the exact name of what you’re following, but it’s still there. You know, you should have learned all of this in your orientation.”

“Orientation?”

“You know, when the guy manning the tower you showed up in told you about Gleam and everything?” Yeo said, raising an eyebrow. “Every new arrival shows up in a designated spot so they can be properly introduced. That’s just how it has been.”

Chance cleared his throat. “Ah. I kind of slept through that. I was pretty exhausted from arriving here and all that.”

Yeo burst into laughter. “That’s fine. From what I know, I just covered everything important anyway. You’ll just have to practice cultivating and learn techniques. That’s the main thing.”

Chance frowned, but at least Yeo wasn’t pressing the issue. He’d have to be more careful with admitting how little he knew in the future – at least, until he figured out how big of a deal it was to show up anywhere other than the arrival spots.

How does someone train themselves with luck? Does that mean this isn’t the right Essence for me? Or have I managed to completely misunderstand what it is?

“You don’t know yours yet, huh?” Yeo asked. “Don’t fret too much. We’ll figure it out. What’s it look like?”

Chance pulled the golden mist to his fingertips. Yeo cocked an eyebrow.

“Huh. What’s it do?”

“Uh… so far, drop bricks on things,” Chance replied. “I think it’s got to do with luck?”

“The Essence of Luck?” Yeo asked. “That… weird. I suppose that’s possible. There are countless branches of cultivation. I’ve just never heard of someone trying to cultivate luck.”

“Yeah,” Chance said with a weak chuckle. “I just hope–”

He trailed off. Yeo didn’t need to hear his life story.

“What?” Yeo asked. “Something about Earth? You miss home?”

“No,” Chance admitted, surprised to realize it was completely true. Even with the dogs trying to kill him and the weeks of stumbling through the alleys, Bob had been right. He’d do it again for this opportunity. “It’s my parents. There’s a possibility they’re also somewhere in this world. I just can’t imagine finding people will be cheap.”

Yeo studied Chance for a moment, then gave him a thumbs up. He gave a lot of those, apparently. “Don’t worry! We’ll make that money no problem. I’m going to compete to be the best Shikari on the board, so you better believe we’ll be rich.”

“There’s a leaderboard?” Chance asked, grateful for a chance to change the subject.

“Oh, yeah. It’s a big deal. The best Shikari get more money, access to better jobs, and a whole bunch of unique opportunities,” Yeo said. He leaned back in the chair, balancing it on the two back legs. “Not to mention fame. A whole lot of it.”

“So, what are you after?”

A moment passed before he answered.

“I want to be famous!” Yeo exclaimed, leaping to his feet and thrusting his chest out. “It sounds so fun. There would be so many cool things I’d be able to take part of. Wouldn’t that be incredible?”

“Never thought about it,” Chance admitted. “But I’d imagine the competition would be pretty fierce. How are rankings on the board set?”

“There are tiers and numbers,” Yeo said, the wind falling out of his sails. He sat back down with a harrumph. “You have to test to get into the next tier, but you can’t take a test until you’ve got a team.”

“We’re the lowest tier, then?” Chance guessed.

“Nah. We aren’t even ranked yet,” Yeo replied, scrunching his nose. “And we don’t have a number either. Those are just for the leaderboard, and you only get them after participating in a tournament of other people in your tier.”

Chance committed everything Yeo had said to memory. If he needed a lot of money, a good way might be to move up on the rankings in the Shikari as well.

“Okay, I’m in,” Chance said, rubbing his hands together. “I’ll do everything I can to help you get up the ranks while we’re still on a team together. No promises for after, though. I’ve got a lot I want to accomplish.”

“Yeah. Just until we’re Knights,” Yeo agreed, running his fingers along the hilt of his kusarigama. “I’ve got a lot to do too. I’m just going to have fun before things get too busy, you know?”

“From what it sounds like, it’ll be a while until we’re Knights, so we’ve got a lot of time to make money,” Chance said.

“Yes! That’s the attitude we need,” Yeo crowed. He lost his balance, tipping back in the chair. The boy vaulted back, flipping and landing on his feet in time to grab the chair and keep it from hitting the ground. He put it back into place and cleared his throat. “Stuck the landing. But hey, whether we stay in a team or not, I think I’ll be seeing you at the top, eh?”

Chance burst into laughter, and Yeo joined him.

“It’s too bad our other teammate is a sourpuss,” Yeo said with a sigh. “The tests are going to be a real pain if she refuses to participate in any of them.”

“Hey, you said it yourself. I’m sure she’ll come around eventually,” Chance said. “Let’s not bother her too much. It isn’t polite.”

Yeo rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Hey, you hungry? I haven’t eaten today.”

“Yeah, actually. Food sounds great. Maybe we should find out what we’ve got in the kitchen,” Chance suggested.

“What? No way,” Yeo said, crossing his arms. “That’s for normal days. We should be celebrating! A restaurant is in order.”

“I’m broke, Yeo. I only just got here, remember?”

“Bah. I’ll pay for you this time, then,” Yeo said. “Consider it my welcoming gift to Centurion.”

Chance narrowed his eyes. “And also an excuse to ply me with more questions about Earth, huh?”

Yeo’s grin widened. “And that. You aren’t allowed to refuse. You seem like a polite guy, and that would be rude.”

Chance burst into laughter. “Okay then. Thank you. I will gratefully accept. To be honest, I’m starving. I haven’t eaten anything good in w–uh, ages.”

“Perfect,” Yeo said, not catching his verbal stumble. “Let’s go, then. I only just got here, so neither of us have had a chance to check the city out. This is a great opportunity.”

“Wait, really?” Chance asked. “How’d you get here so fast? Or did Gibson just know that you were heading over?”

“There’s a long waitlist on getting out of the surrounding villages and into Gleam,” Yeo said with a grin. “I’ve been trying to get approved to become a Shikari for a long time. This was my lucky break. My village is an hour or two away from Gleam, so I hightailed it here as soon as I heard.”

“Oh. That makes sense. For some reason, I kind of just assumed that everyone lived in big cities like this one.”

“We sure wish we did.” Yeo’s face darkened for a moment. Then he wiped it away with a smile and nodded at the door. “Let’s go.”

They left his room. As they passed Bella’s room, Chance paused. Yeo looked over his shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Really? Weren’t you the one that said we shouldn’t annoy her?”

“It’s still polite to offer,” Chance said, only half believing his own words. It was only polite to invite her, after all. Nobody wanted to be excluded. Probably.

He rapped on the door. A few seconds later, it cracked open and Bella pierced him with a baleful glare. “What is it this time? I thought I made my stance pretty clear with both of you.”

“We’re going to get dinner,” Chance replied. “Do you want to come?”

Bella stared at him. For an instant, the cold shell covering her face cracked, but Chance couldn’t tell what emotion passed behind it. Confusion, perhaps? Or maybe it was just shock at how stupid her new teammates were.

“I – no. I’m busy,” Bella said. “I’ll always be busy. You don’t have to ask.”

She shut the door without waiting for a response. Chance frowned, staring at the wood for a moment. She hadn’t slammed it this time. He shrugged and turned, heading down the stairs with Yeo. They left the house and set off down the street.

“That was weird, don’t you think?” Chance asked.

“What do you mean? She told us to go dance on a pole. Again.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t seem as angry this time.”

“You’re delusional,” Yeo laughed. “I think you just want to make friends with everyone, don’t you?”

“That seems like a bit of extrapolation. I’ve only tried to make friends with two people since getting here, and it looks like I’ve got a fifty percent success rate.”

“How many people our age have you met?”

“Two.”

“I rest my point,” Yeo said. Chance rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t find the words to respond to the other boy. His eyes caught on the city skyline as the large sun started to set behind the buildings, illuminating the sky in beautiful purple and orange hues.

Platforms floated above the city, ranging from the size of small courtyards to city blocks. Shimmers of golden light danced between them, forming beautiful pathways and fading away after people crossed them.

Many of the skyscrapers twisted and rose in ways that Chance was fairly sure physics didn’t permit. Some were made of gnarled wood, while others almost resembled steel. No matter their material, magic was laden through every brick and stone of Gleam.