My excitement died out quickly when I started to learn how many different types of bolts there were and what each one was for. Halfway through reading about bolts, I wanted to strangle the author of this bloody book, and tell him to add some bloody flavour to the information to keep it exciting and interesting. When I finally managed to finish the section on bolts and the book turned to the next subject, my excitement came back slightly before I found it was more of the same, just a different item that can be used to build with.

  ”I bloody hate this damn book. The damn textbook is dry and technical as hell! The language in this damn book is so precise and detailed which is fine but come on it still needs a little creative, philosophical and practical aspects of this field.” I groaned as I turned the page to find the new section had a lot of formulas and equations.

  I took a break and rubbed my head, trying to rub away the stress and annoyance before I dived back into it. I had a new respect for engineers and anyone that had to read and learn from this insufferable book. I don’t know how long it took me to get through each section of the book, but by the time I had managed to reach the middle of the book, it had begun to incorporate information from previous sections. I realised there was a lot I had already forgotten, which was making understanding this section harder. Causing me to flip the book back and start again. I read slowly and more carefully this time, trying to avoid the boredom that let me skip over information.

  At some point, I had actually attempted to pick up the book and throw it out into the library, only to glance back down and find it sitting on the desk again. Causing me to let out a scream of frustration and attempt to throw it away again. It wasn’t long after those attempts that I was pulled out of the library and back into the deep dive. I was still feeling frustrated and angry that the slight twitches I was experiencing was causing the ship to jerk slightly or fire a thruster that ended up just wasting fuel.

  “Commander, did you have a restful study session?” The AI asked, causing me to twitch again in annoyance, wanting to strangle the AI for asking. I refrained and growled out an answer instead.

  ”no, I have found engineering can be a difficult course of study, if you are not prepared for the fun of the textbook.”

  ”Indeed, Engineers are some of the most respected people in many of the Sects. Their hard work keeps you mortals alive until you can reach immortality and stop breathing all together.” She replied.

  I felt my mouth fall open as I slowly began to think about people out there that had stopped breathing and what experiencing that would be like. However, my eyes could see that I was only halfway to the planet from where I had started, and began to wonder why I was pulled out of the library.

  ”Why am I not still studying? I still have plenty of time.” I asked.

  “Oh, because the library ejected you for acts of aggression and has placed a first time warning against you that will last 12 hours, you may return to your studying when the timer runs out.” The AI replied like it was not important news.

  I suddenly felt like someone had punched me in the gut, but after I managed to calm down enough to think about it, a rest from that cursed book would probably be for the best, it still irked me slightly that I had been banned from accessing the library. I turned my attention to flying the ship and tried to relax as I watched the Lazarus flying nearby. Keeping the ship straight and on course became an afterthought as my mind slowly turned to wondering if I could cultivate while I was in deep dive.

  The answer quickly became apparent that the answer was ‘no’ because the bridge didn’t have any Qi in it and there was a system set up to ensure there wouldn’t be, to keep the bridge crew from becoming distracted by cultivating. I had returned my attention to flying the ship and waited out the time as I approached the planet by chatting about random stuff with Lazarus’s pilot.

  We ended the call just before he started heading into the atmosphere, and a few moments later I followed him in. I thought the fire that burnt against the hull would hurt or at least be annoying, but it was nothing more than an odd feeling on my skin, easily ignored. Moments later, I broke through the atmosphere and looked down upon the clouds that hid the world from my view. I was about to head down towards the clouds when I spotted Lazarus had started slowing down and holding its current altitude. I was about to call him and ask ‘why he wasn’t descending’ when someone else called me.

  ”Ultirnui Port Authority to Young Blood, please descend to 50 thousand feet and turn west. A landing route is being sent to your navigation. Welcome and have a pleasant stay.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  The line went dead a second later after she had hung up without waiting for me to say anything. I blinked a few times before slowly descending as I turned the bow to the west.

  “Wait, I thought we were going to Elborugh Prime” I asked slightly in confusion.

  “We did, before we jumped through the void.” a voice said somewhere from behind me.

  I frowned slightly as I quickly turned my attention back to navigation and when the new route did not show up, I panicked slightly and started looking for the navigations section of the ship. Luckily, it wasn’t that difficult to find, and I managed to route the new course to my pilot view before I went too far past the line that was having me turn 20 degrees to the north and head towards a large continent. I was almost over the shoreline of the continent when the female voice called me again, and this time it seemed to answer the call for me.

  ”Ultirnui Port Authority to Young Blood, please descend to 10 thousand feet and prepare for landing.”

  The call ended again just the same way it did the first time, and I was starting to feel annoyed about not being able to respond, as my years of pilot training demanded I repeat the instructions before doing it. I muttered the instruction under my breath before I began descending again. When I made it down to 10 thousand feet, I found the navigation update and lead me towards a landing pad. Smiling softly, I decided to tease the port authority a little bit and began to descend towards it.

  “Ultirnui Port Authority to Young Blood, please ascend to 10 thousand feet and circle until cleared to land.”

  They didn't wait for my reply before hanging up again, causing me to giggle as I slowly began to ascend again. After glancing at the clock a few times, I found they had kept me circling for two hours before giving me the clearance to land. As I came down, I extended the landing pads and experienced a whole new feeling in the realm of weird that caused me to rethink about how the ship correlated to my body, and the thrusters no longer felt like my feet.

  The last couple of hundred feet used a lot of thruster fuel to arrest my momentum before I dropped the last few feet, catching myself with my new hands and knees. I let out a long breath before starting the power down procedures and pulled my helmet off.

  “Well, that was fun.” I said sarcastically, trying to ignore the shiver running down my back when I remembered the feeling of the rear thrusters being my ass.

  I heard a few chuckles around the bridge, causing me to blush and quickly get out of the pilot's seat before hurrying off the bridge. I had just stepped outside the bridge door when I ran into Itshu Biyu.

  ”ah, Commander Kenna, you do know that you're not supposed to leave your station until commanded to, right?” She asked.

  ”I am the commander, I can command myself.” I replied with a dead pan tone.

  ”Of course, commander… Did you announce that the pilot was dismissed?” She asked sweetly.

  I blinked a few times before slowly turning around and walking back onto the bridge, Itshu Biyu followed me and waited patiently behind me. Feeling like a scolded child, I turned to look around the bridge, noting that everyone was staring at me.

  ”uh, I dismiss the pilot since we are now on the ground I assume she is no longer needed.”

  ”Aye Commander, logging the pilot's duties completed and dismissed from the bridge by the commander.” Itshu Biyu said from behind me.

  I let out a groan and turned away from the bridge, quickly walking back off it. I turned and headed for the nearest airlock off this ship, wanting to vanish into the markets or at least find out what this ceremony was about. I was not surprised when Itshu Biyu followed me.

  ”Itshu, is it normal for a deacon to follow around a core disciple?” I asked as I walked past a cafeteria, smelling the delicious food and nearly stopping to grab some to eat.

  ”Normally, no. Core disciples are almost always hidden away in the best cultivation location that they can find, and cultivate all day while their juniors support them.” She replied before glancing at me and adding. “You're just weird and don’t spend much time on your cultivation. Speaking of which, I suggest you get to the next realm before heading out there, or no one will believe you are a core disciple."

  I paused as I turned to look at her, she just stared at me, trying to convey how serious she was about that. I glanced longingly down the hallway to the airlock, wanting to be outside and off this damn ship to relieve some of the cabin fever I was starting to experience.

  ”Fine!” I snapped before turning away from freedom and walking away from it to my quarters so I could cultivate. As I walked, I turned my mind to the nascent technique and read about how I was supposed to reach the soul tempering realm.

  *******

  Itshu Biyu watched the young commander walking off to cultivate and let out a sigh of relief. If she had stepped outside as a golden core realm cultivator, the other core disciples of the sect would have eaten her alive, she would need to reach the nascent realm to stand a chance of walking among them.

  She turned and walked towards the airlock, deciding she could do some shopping for the next few realms of techniques, maybe even find the next one for herself. She paused at the airlock as she pulled out a small piece of glass, 7 inches diagonally. She double tapped the screen and then unlocked it before opening her banking app and seeing she had been paid by the sect elder. She smiled before turning the phone off and pocketing it.

  ”excellent, the elder has paid for the next technique for his disciple, time for some shopping!” She squealed in delight as she ran into the airlock.

  She waited for the airlock to pull all the clean ship air out of the room and fill it back up with the air from outside. It smelled like flowers and was missing all the wonderful smells that she had come to love from being onboard a ship for most of her life. While she waited, she also thought about the speed in which Kenna was flying through the realms and shivered.

  “That girl will be an immortal before the recruits that joined the Lazarus at the last entrance ceremony even make it to the second realm. I just need to follow the elders' wishes and figure out how to keep her from heading back to the federation once she does reach it.” Itshu Biyu mumbled to herself as the airlock opened, releasing her to the outside world.

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