The Obligations of the Elderly - chapter 42

Chapter 41

Thus began the campus life of Gong Si and Xi Liu. Their studies in the cultural courses went quite smoothly, but they didn’t make many friends in those classes. For most Ability Users, cultural courses were merely a place to accumulate the necessary credits for electives; they still preferred to befriend those whose ability levels were similar to their own-after all, those were the people they would actually interact with in their future “work.”

Still, not making many friends didn’t mean making none at all. They did make a few friends. Besides Ni Lu, whom they had known since their first day as transfer students, Gong Si also met another classmate in the cultural course-Lin. Unlike Ni Lu, who was always at the bottom of the class, Lin was quite a remarkable figure: not only was he the Vice President of the High School Division Student Council, but also the class committee member for the cultural course, and, moreover, the chief editor of the Campus Journal’s Ling Poetry Collection.

Yes, that famous poetry journal.

Gong Si got to know this student celebrity precisely because of this journal.

Recommended by the Student Affairs Director for Grade 11, Gong Si’s prose poem written during an exam was successfully published in the New Star Special section of the Ling Poetry Collection. The poem immediately received high praise from poetry enthusiasts and was widely discussed in small circles. Fortunately, Gong Si had used a pen name when publishing; otherwise, he might have been directly approached by fans.

But in the end, someone did come looking for him, and that person was none other than Lin, the class committee member.

Lin was famous for his aloofness, always keeping to himself. Aside from announcing class matters, he rarely chatted with classmates. He was strict and uncompromising in his dealings. Gong Si wasn’t exactly afraid of him, but he did think it best not to get involved with him.

Yet, one day at noon, while Gong Si was sitting under a big tree waiting for Xi Liu and Ni Lu to return with lunch, Lin approached him alone.

Seeing Lin’s gloomy face, Gong Si’s heart sank. He immediately started recalling whether he had violated any Academy rules. However-

“Are you Yelande Moersi?” Lin asked coldly.

Gong Si was stunned: that was the pen name he used for publishing poetry, a name he had thought up back when he first dreamed of becoming a poet as a child. Now, it finally had a purpose…

Gong Si nodded.

Then he heard the cold-faced committee member say, “I am Kelalan Wangbulanda.”

Gong Si instantly understood: Kelalan Wangbulanda-the student editor-in-chief of the Ling Poetry Collection.

“Give me your account, I’ll send you your manuscript fee.” The editor-in-chief, “Kelalan Wangbulanda,” said to Gong Si, emotionless.

Nodding, Gong Si lifted his Student Badge on his School Uniform. Lin scanned Gong Si’s badge with his own, and Gong Si’s phone immediately notified him of a new deposit.

“Wow…” Seeing the amount, Gong Si’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“I’ve also transferred the reader letters to your email via your badge. Please check.” Lin continued coldly.

“Thank you.” At this point, Gong Si no longer minded Lin’s coldness. He gave him money and reader letters-he was a good person!

Then, Gong Si saw Lin’s face, usually so pale it was almost ghostly, suddenly turn red, and redder, until it looked like a ripe apple.

Lin quickly pulled out a signed edition and a brush from his pocket, and, blushing, softly asked Gong Si, “I really like your poetry. I’m a fan. Could I have your autograph?”

Gong Si: …

After Gong Si finished signing with a flourish, Lin’s eyes grew even wider and his face even redder: “Your handwriting is so beautiful, so beautiful… C-could you write another line for me?!!!”

Gong Si: …

He no longer found Lin scary at all.

In the world of poetry, relationships between people are this simple. United by their shared love of poetry, the two became good friends, and soon Xi Liu and Ni Lu joined them as well.

“Your poetry is good too, but it’s still not quite at Yelande Moersi’s level. The rhythm is there, but the imagery is lacking.” Editor-in-chief Lin critiqued the poem Xi Liu handed over, then showered his idol with praise: “Yelande Moersi’s poetry has a unique flavor. I believe, given time, he’ll develop his own style and open up a new perspective in the world of poetry!”

His voice grew a bit loud in his excitement, so Gong Si put a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.

Lin immediately closed his mouth, his usual aloof expression returning. He said firmly, “Sorry, I lost my composure. I will steadfastly keep your identity secret.”

Looking at the two in front of him, Xi Liu: …

Ni Lu: …He, he can’t recite poetry at all~

From then on, Class 3, Grade 11 had a special little group: two Low-Level Vessels, one ruler who had signed a Low-Level Vessel, and one cold, unpopular ordinary class committee member.

Such a combination was rare not just in Class 3, Grade 11, but throughout the entire Academy.

After all, the barrier between ordinary people and Ability Users remained. Most ordinary people chose to befriend other ordinary people, while Ability Users sought friends whose abilities were similar to their own.
Gong Si, however, didn’t think there was anything wrong with this arrangement.

Every day, the four of them would spend half their time attending classes together. During the other half, when the Ability User courses were held, they would split up. While the Ability Users attended their specialized classes, the ordinary students would take various skill courses-some related to personal interests, others to professional development-laying the foundation for their future university studies. Gong Si had heard Lin explain that there were quite a few subjects he was interested in, but he simply didn’t have enough time to attend them. As a Vessel who hadn’t even learned Vessel Transformation, he now had to focus seriously on completing the Ability User curriculum.

“Vessel: the storer of energy. The Vessel gives energy a form to be displayed in the world, while energy is the soul that brings the Vessel to life.”

“In short, you can think of the Vessel as the body, and the Ability User’s energy as the soul of the Vessel.”

In class, the teacher tapped the blackboard as he spoke.

Below the podium, Gong Si glanced around helplessly out of the corner of his eye:

Apart from him and Ni Lu, the room was filled with a row of toddlers.

The Ability User courses were divided very specifically; Ability Users of different levels attended different classes. For example, in the Vessel Transformation class, Gong Si was placed in the toddler group-there was no helping it, his level was considered the same as these newly-formed Vessels.

“Luckily, you’re here,” Gong Si said, looking at his only classmate over one meter tall-Ni Lu-with a sigh.

Ni Lu nodded, also sighing, “Yeah, lucky you’re here. Before, I was the only adult in this class~”

Gong Si: …

This class was designed for Vessels who didn’t know their own type or weren’t sure what kind of Vessel they wanted to transform into in the future. Most of these students were children.

Still, the teacher for this class was quite good.

“Vessel is the body, energy is the soul.” This was the first time Gong Si had heard this explanation, and thinking it over, it made a lot of sense.

He and Xi Liu were currently in the adjustment period after forming their Form Contract. For now, Xi Liu’s energy was stabilized by their contract. Next, he just had to manifest his Vessel form, so that Xi Liu’s energy could be infused into him, and only then could his physical issues be resolved.

Although he was probably going to be a minor Vessel, how much of Xi Liu’s problems he could actually solve was still unclear… Gong Si pondered this in his heart.

As he was lost in thought, a pair of leather shoes stopped in front of him. Looking up from the shoes, Gong Si saw the teacher’s face:

“Ni Lu, you still haven’t decided on a direction for your Vessel Transformation? The sooner you determine your Vessel form, the sooner you’ll be able to find a User to form a contract with.” The teacher was speaking to Ni Lu, who sat next to him.

“A User, huh…” Ni Lu scratched the little curl on top of his head. “There are so few Users willing to contract with a low-level Vessel like me. Even if I manage Vessel Transformation, I’ll probably just be some generic model, right? It’ll be hard to compete with others…”

“That’s exactly why you need to put more effort into your Vessel form,” the teacher stopped him from continuing his self-deprecation. “Even if you become something like a utility knife, you should think about whether you can design yourself to be more considerate than other utility knives. Maybe your blade is especially sharp, sharper than any other, or maybe you can automatically break and replace blades so the User doesn’t have to do it themselves. Nowadays, Vessel Transformation is all about the details. First, decide on your form, then focus on the details.”

Here, the teacher paused. “But I don’t think you’ll end up as a utility knife. You’re a particularly gentle and attentive kid-no matter how I look at it, you don’t seem suited to dangerous types of blades.”

“Scientists have found that the Vessel form is not only related to genetics and strong personal wishes, but also highly correlated with personality. For example, two parents whose main function is as bayonets-designed to harm-might have a child who becomes a surgical scalpel, whose main function is healing. Gentle, attentive people are more suited to transform into harmless, gentle forms.”

“You come from an ordinary family, so there’s no obvious family gene to reference. That’s why I suggest you look for your possible Vessel form based on your personal wishes and personality.” The teacher finished his advice to Ni Lu.

Ni Lu nodded, half-understanding, and thanked the teacher.

The teacher then turned to Gong Si. “You’re the opposite of Ni Lu. You give off a very sharp impression-I’d say you’re likely to become a weapon-type Vessel with offensive abilities. So, have you had any ideas?”

Gong Si pursed his lips, then replied, “Scissors.”

“Both my parents are knives, but apparently there’s a history of scissors in the family. Plus, I often dream about scissors.” Even though he knew he was most likely going to be scissors, for some reason, Gong Si always felt a sense of reluctance.

Scissors! Scissors, of all things! They don’t sound or look impressive at all~

Seeing his expression, the teacher smiled. “Dreams are a very important hint. We start dreaming when we’re still infants-no, even from birth, or even before. It’s a strong subconscious signal.”

“Sometimes, you shouldn’t resist these hints. The form in your dreams might not be what you want, but if you start to reject it in your heart, that resistance can also affect your Vessel Transformation.” The teacher could see Gong Si’s inner conflict.

“Here’s a suggestion: for someone like you who’s already received a hint, I recommend you buy a pair of scissors and design them to look like the ones in your dreams, or in the way you want to become.”
“You can just buy the most ordinary pair of scissors and look at them every day, constantly imagining on that basis.”

“Don’t resist. Try to observe what you might become, and keep imagining the version of yourself you most want to be.”

“At this moment, all you need is a little imagination.”

As the teacher spoke, she gave Gong Si a gentle smile, then clasped her hands behind her back and went off to guide other elementary students.

Was it psychological resistance again?

Am I really that stubborn?

Gong Si thought silently. As this class ended, seeing that Xi Liu’s class still had half an hour left, Gong Si dragged Ni Lu to the Academy’s shop to buy scissors.

The teaching style in Gong Si’s class was like a breath of fresh air, but the User class next door was not so harmonious.

“A User’s energy base determines everything. The amount of energy decides how large a Vessel can be filled-this is determined from the very beginning.” Unlike the smiling old man teaching Gong Si’s class, the teacher here was a tall, thin, and gloomy-looking middle-aged man.

“All the students here today are Users of Dominator level or above. Your energy values have been stronger than those of ordinary Users from the start.”

“User is just a general term. Low-energy Users, in my view, are truly just Users. At most, they can use one tool and do some minor things, but will never experience the thrill of domination, let alone ruling, in their lifetime.”

His gaze swept across the faces of the students, finally passing over Xing Yun and… Xi Liu.

Xi Liu simply studied the props on the large table in front of him, looking as if he was researching, without returning the teacher’s gaze.

Seeing Xi Liu like this, the middle-aged man’s face showed a subtle, indescribable expression.

If one had to describe it… it was probably: Why is that person here…?

This was the classroom for advanced Users, a professional class for Ability Users outside of cultural studies. Besides the large category of E-Class, there were also specialized classes for Users and Vessels, which were further divided into small classes, basically sorted by the ability values of Users and Vessels.

Thus, Gong Si and Ni Lu went to the small Vessel class, while Xi Liu entered the highest-level User class.

Even after signing the lowest-level Vessel, Xi Liu’s initial ability value was still classified as the highest level-Dominator. If considered alone, he would only be placed in this class.

This class had very few students; including Xi Liu, there were only nine. All Users at Ji Ling Academy in the second year of high school who were Dominator level or above now stood here.

Eight were Dominators, and only Xi Liu was a Ruler.

Users who reached this level were rare even at Ji Ling Academy. They already led small factions in their respective classes, so now these people stood far apart, each keeping to themselves, with no intention of chatting or getting close.

But among them, two stood even further apart from the rest.

One was Xing Yun, the other was Xi Liu.

While most of the others were B-Class or even C-Class Dominators, Special-A Grade Dominator Xing Yun and Xi Liu, who was a whole tier above them, stood out as especially unique.

Partly due to psychological reasons, but more so because of the oppressive energy difference between tiers, these Dominators all instinctively kept their distance from the two, so seven stood closer together, leaving Xing Yun and Xi Liu occupying a much larger area and drawing more attention.

The middle-aged man first looked at Xing Yun. Seeing the stable energy flow around the youth, dreamlike and colorful like a nebula, he nodded in appreciation.

Ordinary people can’t see this, and it’s hard to even sense the existence of such energy unless it is infused into a Vessel and materialized. But for Ability Users, seeing others’ energy is relatively easy.

Of course, there are differences between tiers. Only those of the same or higher tier can see the other’s complete energy; lower-tier people can only see part of it and feel the intimidation brought by the tier difference.

Then, he looked at Xi Liu-

It was a massive, evil, ferocious black energy flow, larger than all the others’ combined. The energy gap between tiers truly cannot be easily bridged.

The middle-aged man barely suppressed his urge to step back. He steadied himself, wanting to observe the rare Ruler-tier energy more closely.

But he failed. As a Special-A Grade Dominator, he could see Xing Yun’s energy flow clearly, but could not see Xi Liu’s complete energy flow. Whether Xi Liu was too lazy to hide it or simply couldn’t, that black energy covered the entire room, and under its pressure, everyone’s energy was dimmed to the point of near invisibility. Only Xing Yun’s energy, due to its unique properties, was still faintly visible, though much darker.

With a light cough, the middle-aged man knew this was the most he could see.

He resumed teaching.

“The various levels are essentially divisions of energy. However, different Form Contract Vessels, different energy attributes, and subtle energy control all affect a User’s actual rating. That’s why, in real combat, some Special-A Grade Dominators still lose to C-Class Dominators.”
“Some of you have already Formed Contracts, while others have not. The process of harmonizing with your Vessel will be covered in another class. In this course, I mainly teach the subtle manipulation of energy.”

The middle-aged man spoke as his gaze swept across the faces of the Dominators seated in front: “Subtle manipulation is extremely important. The term ‘User’-when you break it down-is all about operation.”

“For some Vessels, a rough infusion of energy works well; some Vessels require this. However, most Vessels demand detailed control. For example, my Vessel-”

As he spoke, he reached under his robe and produced a gun: “This is my Vessel, a sniper rifle: Zhun Yi.”

The man’s fingertips slowly slid along the body of the gun: “Zhun Yi currently contains a total of 1,834 components inside him. These were all created together by Zhun Yi and me.”

“From the day I Formed a Contract with Zhun Yi, he was a gun. Back then, his internal components were simple-only 359 pieces. As we continued to harmonize, and as my understanding of operating the gun deepened, we worked together to increase the number of components to what it is now. The addition of each new component required me to use energy to carve out a new space inside Zhun Yi, and with his cooperation, to construct a new component using fresh energy.”

“With more and more new components added, Zhun Yi’s power grew, and he became increasingly unique.”

“If, at first, Zhun Yi was simply a gun, now he is completely, my gun.”

“This is the true relationship between a User and their Vessel.”

After finishing, he glanced at Zhun Yi once more, then put him away.

“This brings us to another concept: components can be increased.”

He continued, “Not every User has the opportunity to obtain an Animal Type Vessel that can grow. For many Users, their energy gradually increases over time. What should they do with the surplus energy? Currently, there are two methods.”

“One is to use some characteristic of the Vessel to release it externally, such as bullets; the other is to continuously add details inside the Vessel, such as components. These details consume a great deal of energy, but once successful, the Vessel’s level will rise.”

“For Users who have contracted a Miniature Vessel or a Low-Level Vessel, these two points are especially important.” As he spoke, he looked deeply at Xi Liu.

Indeed, among all the Users present, the only one who had contracted a Low-Level Vessel was him.

So, in reality, this statement was a piece of advice for Xi Liu.

“In this class, what you’ll mainly be learning is the operation of these details.”

“The instruments on the round table are molds simulating the existence of Vessels. They are made from special materials that mimic the composition of a Vessel. You can treat them as a kind of Vessel, though they are non-biological. Their sole function is to help you understand your current level of operation and where your subtle manipulation skills stand.”

As the middle-aged man spoke, he walked to the table and began a detailed introduction.

At this moment, the people in the classroom were standing around a large round table. According to the number of people present, there were ten sets of molds on the table, all made from a transparent material resembling glass. They looked like tubes, mounted on the table like long rifles. With the naked eye, one could see that these tubes contained many branching, winding, and twisting structures, arranged from left to right. The tube on the far left was completely transparent and had the simplest structure. The further right you went, the more complex the tubes became, and the opaque structures increased. The tube on the far right was completely opaque, not thick but very long, extending all the way to the center of the table, where nine tubes converged upward into a single tube, then connected to a spherical object made of the same material above.

“This is the Pipeline Maze. You will inject your energy into it-very carefully, layer by layer. The tube on the far left is relatively simple; as long as your energy can pass through and emerge from the other end, you succeed. The difficulty increases as you move to the right. For the first two tubes, you can visually follow the internal paths to infuse your energy. Starting from the fourth tube, opaque structures are added, and in these mazes, you must rely solely on your ability to manipulate your energy as it travels through the tube. If you get lost for too long and your energy keeps increasing, the tube will be unable to withstand your energy.”

“If the tube breaks, that’s considered a failure. If your energy emerges from the other end, that’s a success. Anyone who successfully challenges the ninth tube on the far right can graduate from this course.”

At this point, the middle-aged man paused: “However, I must tell you in advance-even the simplest tube on the far left is actually the highest-level course for a Controller. If you fail the challenge, there’s no need to be discouraged.”

“Now, everyone, try it yourselves in this room. If you succeed, I’ll know, and I’ll open the next course for you.”

But that would be at least half a year from now, wouldn’t it?

Thinking this, the middle-aged man left the classroom.