I am an Eldritch Entity?

Eryndor glanced at the practice technique of cultivation on his personal device.

The first stage was surprisingly easy.

To step into the Qi Gathering realm, one only needs to be able to sense Qi and absorb it into their meridians.

From then onwards, the amount of Qi one can hold in their meridians determines their stage from one to nine at Qi Gathering realm.

The practice technique of Cultivation involved visualizing a closed circuit of meridians. The more complete the visualization the higher the chances that one can sense Qi.

Once the person absorbs the first ever unit of Qi they sensed into their meridians, visualizing the circuit to keep absorbing Qi wouldn't work.

They'll then need to control the unit of Qi to go through the circuit of meridians mentioned in the practice technique to keep absorbing the Qi.

Eryndor emptied his mind and sat cross legged on his bed, closing his eyes as he began meditating.

Thus began his efforts to take the first step in the long journey of cultivation. 

Grrrr…

His stomach growled.

His eyes shot open as he looked around the room, his gaze finally resting on the clock.

It's been three hours already?

He had made some progress in the visualization of the circuit but he couldn't feel any Qi yet.

Eryndor didn't ponder any longer. 

His motto was to not linger on things which couldn't be solved through thinking. He liked acting on it immediately.

He decided that meditating would be better if he ate something first, since it was his hunger which broke his visualization. 

When he descended the stairs, the rest of his roommates were already sitting on the dining table, each eating their own meal.

He made a basic pasta with the already prepared ravioli and joined them on the table.

"It was a fight class today, and guess what? I was the strongest despite being one of the latecomers."

It was Drakarion who spoke, then tore apart a hefty chunk of meat from the chicken leg with his teeth and began chewing.

Eryndor spoke as he placed his plate on the table and sat beside Valentina.

"Has no one successfully embarked on Martial Arts yet?"

The young man took a while to process the food down his throat before answering.

"Nope. The first realm of Martial Arts is Iron Body, and you need several resources to start refining the body.

"Our classes began three months ago, and even the person with the most progress in our class has only gathered eighty percent of the materials required.

"So we are technically at the same starting line in terms of physique. Not really a big deal that I won haha."

He laughed boisterously. 

Eryndor inwardly sighed.

It was indeed a good thing I didn't choose that path.

Valentina asked as she put down the burrito in her hand.

"Are you trained in combat?"

"Yes, my dad trained me since I was a child. I couldn't be more familiar with getting beat—" He caught himself, and coughed. "I mean, beating up people."

Paulina explained her circumstances when asked, leading to everyone turning their eyes finally to Eryndor.

He realized they were all talking about their first day at class, and he seemed to have missed Valentina's chance.

"Nothing special, just some history and basic knowledge about anomalies."

He told them about classification of anomalies and the extra information about Dread Cloud.

Minutes later he was chuckling as he looked at their reaction. It was exactly as he had guessed.

After finishing his ravioli, he went back to his room to continue his practice.

Paulina looked at Drakarion and confirmed.

"He chose the path of Cultivation right?"

He nodded while tearing apart another huge chunk of chicken. 

The Brunette who aspired to be a mage giggled.

"No wonder he is in such a rush to practice. He will be the first among us to embark on a power system."

"Nope."

Valentina interrupted their convo, raising her hand.

Before any of them could speak, two thin threads slithered up her arm. 

Paulina narrowed her eyes at her female companion.

"Snakes? Two at that? As far as I know, the first stage of the beast taming path only allows a single beast.

"Plus, the Academy gave you a pet so quickly?"

Valentina extended a finger, upon which the small white snake which almost looked like a thread slithered up.

"First, I've only contracted one of these two guys. 

"And second, I found them myself where I was living. After verification the academy allowed me to have these two as my contracted beasts."

Drakarion grinned. 

"It was lucky of you to come across two non-hostile beasts. No wonder you chose the path of beast taming.

"On that matter, your path uses internal energy too, right? You seemed to have sensed it quickly enough."

The blonde smiled, swatting her other hand as she replied.

"It's not actually the case, I got the practice technique a month ago so I had plenty of time to sense internal energy."

Each of them dispersed shortly after, heading to do their own work.

*****

Deep in the night, a shiny speck of light entered Eryndor's senses.

With his eyes still closed, he tracked the path of the speck of light, watching with bated breath as it entered the envisioned route of meridians.

Eryndor instantly felt as if he was undergoing a transformation, both physically and mentally.

I've read about this. It happens when you sense the Qi for the first time and bring it into your meridians, heralding your start of cultivation.

Without paying attention whatsoever to the transformation going on, Eryndor quickly focused on the Mind Palace.

Instantly, he found himself in the hall where he last left.

Gazing at the door which he failed to open last time, Eryndor took a deep breath and tried again.

It took every bit of strength he had, and the moment where the door stood closed as if something hadn't yet been achieved didn't take place.

Eryndor smoothly passed that hurdle.

Indeed, he needed to embark on a power system to open the door.

There was an Altar situated in the middle of the room with a cloak hovering above it.

There were a few sentences etched onto the Altar, with a bold heading above them.

[Sovereign's Cloak]