Chapter 5: Choosing a power system

    Eryndor reclined on his bed and opened the file sent to him by the agents of the Human Federation.

    The contents were a word-for-word recounting of his earlier exchange with them, a proof of the file''s authenticity.

    It was locked with the password they had discussed during their conversation at the hospital, ensuring its security.

    To confirm their legitimacy, Eryndor had also verified the agents by calling the helpline number listed on the Federation''s official website.

    He opened it with great anticipation, eager to get in-depth knowledge.

    It took him about half an hour to read through the entire document.

    There were two important things which it explained about in general.

    First was the power system of the Eight Outer Domains.

    The Human Federation, through a series of confrontations over two centuries, were able to get their hands on techniques of all the Eight Outer Domains.

    But some of them were incomplete, some had higher restrictions, some had resource limitations.

    The Human Federation suggested a few power systems out of all, each carefully selected for their cost-effectiveness or suitability to the current situation, among other factors.

    Eryndor condensed the points listed in the document for his own convenience.

    This made it easier for him to make quicker decisions, without the need to sift through long, dense paragraphs each time.

    Cultivation world: Relies on the energy ''Qi''. The power system is about longevity.

    It has low resource requirements at least in the early stages, fulfilled by the environmental Qi itself, making it extremely cost-effective.

    Magic world: Relies on the energy ''Mana''. The power system is about knowledge.

    It has high requirements of knowledge from the beginning stage itself. Need extensive knowledge on the subject to form the related spell model.

    Not suitable for drop-outs.

    Mentalist world: Relies on ''Spiritual energy''. The power system focuses on the use of mind.

    It has low resource requirements, but due to opposition from the higher ups it is strongly discouraged to be pursued in the Academy.

    Eryndor suspected that people felt uneasy when confronting them, likely due to their ability to read minds, a power that could make anyone wary.

    As for becoming a mentalist, Eryndor wasn''t interested in the constant surveillance from the Academy, nor did he want to draw unwanted attention or suspicion from the Human Federation.

    Becoming a martial artist was certainly possible, but he didn''t like the idea of refining body and having limited range to attack.

    It might be possible at higher realms of power but it certainly didn''t seem feasible at lower ranks.

    He would end up being a meat shield.

    Cyborg was a no brainer.

    Even though he wanted to be quick, it seemed unlikely that the Academy would provide him resources for rank one for free.

    He would have to work to exchange the materials for it, which would take some time.

    Beast Taming had the same problem.

    It was a quick route and even had a higher potential than being a Cyborg where the Federation didn''t have corresponding technology of higher level.

    But he likely wouldn''t be given the beast for free. He would have to work for it.

    Same with the Demon techniques.

    He didn''t want to wait till the Academy was done evaluating him psychologically and gave the pass to cultivate the technique.

    Lastly, the Buddhist technique.

    It was also a no-brainer.

    He had no grandeur delusions of being able to quickly successfully practice a power system the Academy evaluated as one of the slowest.

    The Academy has said that one person can practice more than one power system but it is difficult and also discouraged since it means more resources were used on a single person for no quantifiable increase in power.

    It is difficult as it is for a person to power up, adding to that another power system, it is like climbing with an extra load.

    I can choose other power systems later after making sufficient contributions if cultivation happens to be unbearable or useless.

    After going through a few more rounds of discussion with himself and searching information on the internet, he ended up choosing cultivation as his path.

    It would be the quickest and easiest way to power.

    If it didn''t work out, Beast taming would be his second choice.