Lone Cultivator In Another World

The next two days passed quickly for Michael and his mother, who got on the phone with all her friends after getting the good news. Even though they were in another country now, his mother still made sure to stay in touch with people who were important to her and encouraged her son to do the same. However, for Michael, his life was divided in two: before his new school and after, and he knew that he would never need any of his previous contacts again.

Instead, he spent these two days cultivating and spending time with his mom. During this time, he couldn't earn any more glory points even though he cleaned the house, did the laundry and saw to his mother's every request.

After hitting his head against the wall twice, Michael started to cultivate lying down. Now, he could stay in meditation until he absorbed a few drops of imaginary water. They felt very cold, much colder than ice, and he only managed to endure the pain for a few short seconds before breaking concentration. Fortunately, when he came to his senses, the pain always disappeared.

On Monday, Michael's short holiday came to an end as he had to attend a week of trial classes with his future classmates. He was so anxious the night before, he would've overslept if not for Mind Alarm Clock.

At 8:50 in the morning Michael entered the same school building and ran up the stairs to classroom 302, homeroom for 7th grade students. Inside, he saw many familiar faces, but made a beeline for one girl without sparing others a second look. He sat down next to the beautiful girl with very fair skin and brown hair gathered into a ponytail. Among all the students, she was the one who mattered to him the most.

"Hey, I'm Michael" he said, without giving her a chance to indicate the seat had been reserved.

"Hi" she muttered, looking at her hands. "Look, sorry, but…"

"No worries, I also used to be nervous when I changed schools before. It's my fourth time, I think, so I have it all figured out. You need to try and become friends with as many people as possible to bring your confidence up. Just introduce yourself and they'll remember you, I promise" he interrupted.

The girl's cheeks turned red, "I'm Anna. Nice to meet you".

"Right? See, you've made a friend. Now, if you get in any kind of trouble, I'll be there to help you. That's what friends are for!"

He lay it on a bit thick, but with Anna this was the best way to get her attention.

"Let me tell you a bit about myself. I'm Michael from Russia, you can call me Misha if it makes you feel more comfortable. I got here through the History department, but I'm interested in pretty much anything. I'm planning to apply for as many advanced study groups and master-classes as possible. And you?" he spoke without making pauses.

"Misha? I- I'm going to be a biologist…"

"Ah, great! After the school year starts, let's sit together in class. What do you think? I'm pretty smart and I won't be any trouble".

"Ah, well…"

They were interrupted by a girl dressed in bright clothes with an intricate hairstyle, "Anna, I asked you to save me a seat! Come on, bro, get up, I sat here first".

"Sorry, seat taken" laughed Michael, "I don't want to be rude, but Anna and I have been talking for a while now. Can you please let us keep our seats?"

"Anna, come on" the girl continued, louder, "Let's sit together. If he doesn't want to stand up, you can sit with me here" she patted a nearby desk.

Michael turned to Anna and flashed her the most kind, carefree smile he could muster. He knew that this girl really needed someone to rely on right now and would become an important person for him in the future. She was Alice's best friend in his past life, and if he wanted Alice to fall in love with him all over again a year later, he would need Anna's approval at the time.

Anna stammered, unable to decide who to spend her first trial lesson with. But the decision was not hers to make as a cheerful "Morning, class, let's get seated" sounded from the door. An excited middle-aged man with messy hair stood in front of the blackboard and started taking roll.

"Let's forego our surnames for a week, alright? Just to feel a bit more comfortable. Anna!"

Anna, still red as a tomato, raised her hand. Close by, two twin boys elbowed each other, whispering, "Pretty!"

"Carina!" the girl from before waved sloppily, now sharing a desk with Marco Reed, "Jack! Jerry! Great. Marco! Mikhail!"

"Please, call me Michael, sir. I think it'll be easier on all of us" smiled Michael.

"Alright, Michael, let me make a note here. Sofia? OK. Everyone here except… but that's fine. Now, can anyone tell me, what is biology?"

After half an hour, Michael was impressed with Anna's abilities. Everything was easy for him because he was 20 years older than everyone else, but Anna didn't have that advantage. Still, it felt like the teacher and her spoke their own language. After the man stopped trying to engage everyone in the discussion, the lesson turned into a dialogue between Anna and him. Michael could see that even though the girl frowned in concentration, there was a spark in her eyes when she talked about what she loved.

Unlike everyone else in the room, he didn't see a shy girl on the cusp of womanhood. He saw what she would look like 20 years from now, a rare beauty on the level of Alice, a bright star in the field of biochemistry. A brilliant scientist, who, even after experiencing multiple setbacks, made incredible contributions to the process of cloning. In 2023, it was this girl who successfully cloned a human for the first time, creating a worldwide sensation. She went on to take over the genetics field by storm, and it was her who produced the most promising results in combating LZD1 when Michael couldn't wait any longer.

Now, it was his responsibility to help her blossom into the person she was destined to become. All he would ask for in return was a good word in front of Alice.

Still, be it 7th or 9th grade biology, Michael had to pitch in his own two cents, so he carefully worked a few sentences into the discussion, barely providing new information, but agreeing on the points both speakers shared.

After the bell rang, Carina approached their desk again, insisting she spend some time with Anna now that they had a few minutes. Michael looked at Anna and shrugged, leaving the decision to her, and the girl didn't disappoint.

"Look, Carina, I'm really sorry, but Michael and I haven't finished discussing the overall cellular structure evolution in fish and it might be very important for our next biology lesson".

"Wasn't this lesson about photo… photo-syn-thesis?" drawled Liza, almost yawning.

"That was 20 minutes ago! Were you listening? It's all very important, you know?"

"Yeah, right. Fine. I'll just chill today then".

As soon as Michael and Anna were left alone, the girl stopped speaking, and it went on until the silence became awkward. Michael was content to rest from a biology discussion where he had to use all his skills to participate. Anna's cheeks, on the other hand, reddened again, until she blurted, "How did you know that I'm Russian?"

"Uh?"

"You wanted me to call you Misha if I wasn't comfortable. Meaning you knew that a Russian name would feel familiar to me. How did you know?"

"Well…" damn, this girl was perceptive. Maybe he misjudged her with the heavy 'friend propaganda' earlier. Michael could've twisted his way out of this, but instead treated it as an opportunity, "I heard your surname from someone before and thought it sounded familiar. I took a guess".

"I see" she frowned for the umpteenth time.

"Tit for tat, my turn to ask a question. Would you like to be friends with me?"

"You- you told me you already were my friend" she muttered.

"Ding! 15 glory points earned for helping Anna gain confidence. Host cares about his friends" same as before, Glory didn't need confirmation from Anna to know she would agree.

"Yes, I am, but will you be mine?" Michael tried to keep a satisfied smile off his face.

"… Yeah" she exhaled.

...

When Michael got home that evening, after he answered all of his mom's questions, he lay on his bed and imagined a ring of water levitating in the room. As usual, a few drops at frighteningly low temperatures entered his body and made him groan into the pillow.

He didn't expect that a moment later a cold stream would course through his body and end up somewhere in his head.

"Congratulations on reaching cultivation 1-stage, 2-star".

"Thanks, Glory. Is there anything new in the shop?"

"More abilities appear in the shop with each increase in host's cultivation".

When Michael checked the Mind tab in the shop, the Mind Alarm Clock symbol had changed, and the ability was now called Mind Lullaby. Next to it, four other symbols appeared, all glowing white, meaning they were all available for purchase.