Chapter 18: Beastmaster Cultivation Manual
After Glade had left, Draco waited for several minutes to ensure his half-brother wouldn’t return before turning his attention to the leather-bound manual he had purchased earlier.
Twenty-five hundred gold coins. That’s more than enough to establish my business and kickstart my journey to power. I don’t need that deadbeat father of mine, what did my mother see in him anyways?
With Zephyr perched attentively on his shoulder, Draco carefully opened the Common-Rank Beastmaster Cultivation Manual. He had expected dense text and complex theoretical explanations, but was surprised to find that the book was primarily composed of detailed illustrations with minimal written descriptions.
The first page showed a simple diagram: a human figure sitting cross-legged with a small beast positioned on their head, both surrounded by flowing lines that seemed to represent energy circulation.
[Master, that person looks like you! And that tiny creature looks like me! (◕‿◕)] Zephyr chirped excitedly, pointing his beak at the illustration.
"It does seem to be designed for our type of partnership," Draco agreed, studying the positioning more carefully. "According to this, you should perch on top of my head while I maintain this meditation posture."
Following the manual’s guidance, Draco settled into a cross-legged position on his bed. Zephyr fluttered up and carefully positioned himself on the crown of Draco’s head, his tiny claws gripping gently in his master’s hair.
[Like this, Master? Am I too heavy? (・∀・)]
"You’re perfect." Draco reassured the tiny hummingbird, who seemed to be self-conscious of his weight.
"Now, according to the instructions, we need to synchronize our breathing and focus on the connection between us."
The first few attempts were clumsy. Draco struggled to maintain the meditation posture while Zephyr kept shifting position, trying to find the most comfortable spot. But after several minutes of adjustment, they found their rhythm.
*Breathe in... feel the connection... breathe out... let the energy flow...*
Suddenly, Draco felt a subtle shift in the energy around them. The bond between him and Zephyr seemed to intensify, and warmth spread through his mana core.
[+0.01 EXP]
The notification flashed briefly in his vision, so unexpected that Draco nearly broke concentration.
Did I just gain experience points?
A minute and a half later, another notification appeared:
[+0.01 EXP]
Then another:
[+0.01 EXP]
[Master, something feels different! There’s a warm feeling going between us! (°o°)] Zephyr whispered, his voice filled with wonder.
Draco’s eyes widened in shock as he realized what was happening.
The manual cultivation was providing a steady stream of experience points, something he had never anticipated.
His daily missions provided two experience points for two hours of grueling physical training, but this simple meditation might start generating the same reward at a much more comfortable pace.
Immediately, he focused on maintaining the position and connection, eager to see how much experience he could accumulate. The notifications continued appearing every ninety seconds or so:
[+0.01 EXP]
[+0.01 EXP]
[+0.01 EXP]
But after some time, the flow of experience suddenly stopped. No more notifications appeared, despite Draco and Zephyr maintaining perfect synchronization.
Why did it stop? Did we do something wrong?
Worried that he had somehow broken the technique, Draco carefully opened his eyes and consulted the manual again. Flipping to the second page, he found another illustration showing a slightly different posture – the human figure now had their hands positioned differently, and the beast was perched on their shoulder instead of their head.
[Master, maybe we need to try the second picture?] Zephyr suggested, having noticed Draco’s consultation of the manual.
That makes sense. The first position probably has a limited duration before we need to progress to the next stage.
They adjusted their positions according to the second illustration. Zephyr moved to Draco’s shoulder while Draco shifted his hand placement to match the diagram. And as Zephyr predicted, the experience notifications resumed:
[+0.01 EXP]
[+0.01 EXP]
For the next hour, Draco worked through the various positions illustrated in the basic manual. Each pose seemed to last about twenty minutes before the experience flow would stop, requiring them to advance to the next stage.
By the end of the session, his status screen showed the remarkable results:
EXP: 20/100
One full experience point in an hour! Draco could hardly believe the efficiency.
My daily mission provides two experience points after two hours of exhausting physical training, but this manual gave me one point through meditation alone.
[Master, I feel stronger already! My connection to you feels much clearer than before! ＼(^o^)／] Zephyr chirped happily, his tiny eyes bright with energy.
"This changes everything, Zephyr. If we can gain an additional experience point every hour through manual cultivation, our development speed will increase dramatically.
Based on this improvement rate, if we assume that there is no limit to the number of experience points we can get per day, we would be able to easily hit 14 experience points daily by doing our daily missions and cultivating for 12 hours.
At that rate, we would be able to reach a hundred experience points in 6 days. And based on my prediction, once we do, we will become Elite-Ranked! Something that nobody in the academy has done before!"
The thought was staggering.
Cultivating combined with his daily missions, he could potentially earn over ten experience points per day if he dedicated enough time to cultivation. At that rate, reaching level one would take less than a week instead of months.
With Glade’s money for business startup and this manual for accelerated development, I’m finally positioned to make real progress in this world.