《Way of the Anomaly》 What will you choose? The same old streets, the same old city. Everything has been the same for quite some time, I''ve started wondering if it''ll ever change. Growing numb to the passing of time has been a quite sad experience for my sense of humor, not that I was hilarious or anything, but I could still get some good laughs from my few friends. Now I can''t even laught to myself. Double majoring in Design and Marketing, a terrible idea my parents said. They were right, just not in the way they said I''d not be able to handle both at the same time, but that I''d find it so boring that work would be so dull I''d rather walk dogs for a living, should have definitely made Dog Walking my major. I sigh as I realized there''s nothing I can do about it, at least not currently. I can''t just change what I''ve been doing for 5 years just because I want to, I still have to help my parents who are in a pinch for trusting the wrong person with their money. Now, back to present. I stop myself from sighing again as I''ve been trying to be more positive about life recently, but the never changing nature of my life ever since I graduated has been making it really difficult. Not a surprising thing as I have hated doing repetitive work if I don''t see any improvement, which is quite obvious as I have barely gained any new thing to do in the past half decade, having as exceptions some self study about my respective majors. My train of thought is immediately interrupted as a light blue window hazes in front of me, gradually becoming clearer to sight, it''s content makes me think if I am hallucinating after playing so many RPGs in my free hours, but chose to ignore the possibility that I''m going crazy when I read the second half of the text box.
Thou who seeks to improve thyself, but is shackled by the ties of the secular world.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. A chance is granted, will you take or comply to the desires of others? Travel your own path in search of the Way. Is your path a lonely one or one filled with the joy of friendship and love? To start your journey just answer the question, what is the most important thing in life?
What is the most important thing in life? What a philosofical question, my mind works faster than ever to answer the question that will probably change everything I know, for better or for worse. After precisely ten seconds I utter the answer that shall set my path apart from everyone else. "Liberty, the power and or strength to act as one pleases. The thing that I crave the most is Liberty" I instantly regret what I said, but then I remember that there''s nobody nearby to criticise me for my selfish desire of unrestricted power and strength. However my regret doesn''t lasts long as the current window fades away and is quickly replace by another one.
Thou who has made the choice of always reaching towards the endless skies shall make your own wings with the power granted to you. As part of the group who chose to travel the Path of Liberty you have been given an gift that opens an infinite number of possibilities, which will you choose? New Trait "Path Opener"! Description: The Heavens never close all paths, as a blessed son of the Heavens itself, how would you have a destined road to walk? As the world you''ll go into dislikes foreigners, you''ll fuse souls with one with the same essence as you. Remember, time is a river, will you be dragged along or will you fight against the flow?
When I finish reading the unbelievable words my mind feels heavy and I slowly lose my consciousness. Soul Fusion I feel my head throbbing, but I strangely don''t feel my head, nor my arms, or anything at all except for this splitting headache. Something even weirder is that I don''t feel scared at all, it''s as if I know that nothing bad will happen to me here. But... where is "here"? I try to look around, something I now know it''s impossible without a body, but the darkness which seems to permeate the whole space is just too... dark? I''m confident that if I still had hands, I wouldn''t be able to see them right in front of my face. My thoughts wander through lots of different possibilities although I never reach a conclusion thanks to the blinding lights that surged from the void and float about my body. My mind froze for a second when I realized that the lights were creating my body from scratch, kind of terrifying to watch, yet incredibly satisfying at the same time. I just let my mind float until the process is over and I can finally look around to see the wonder that is this room. Snow white walls, marble pillars so tall that''s impossible to see their end, flamboyant red carpet with gold drawings of phoenixes and dragons fighting. Everything in this room is basically telling us to look to the most cospicuous place, the majestic throne and the boy sitting there. His aquiline nose, sharp jawline and amber eyes contrast with his youthful face, yet his aura is immense for someone so young. He sits there for a full minute before standing up, walking to me and calmly changing his stoic face into a weird smirk and placing his hands onto my shoulders and saying: "You might not understand now, but you will soon. I leave my happiness and sadness, joys and sorrows, loves and hates for you, I know you won''t cower from this burden that is my old regrets, or should I say, your new troubles" he pauses for a creepy laugh and continues, "Anyway, I trust you as your soul twin. Quick advice before I gotta leave, don''t live in the past, I did that and it''s not worth it. Althought your circunstances are more complicated than mine, you still gotta move forward, no matter what. Break rules as a way to live, make the sky as your heart wishes. Be the sword who paints your own Heaven and Earth" ''Be the sword who paints your own Heaven and Earth'', I will nurture these words into reality, thats my determination.
Soul Fusion initiated, 0% completed
As the now already familiar blue screen appears, the inexplicably familiar boy slowly disappears into floating lights, like what happened to me, yet in reverse. I have never seen this boy before, but I still find myself melancholic when I see that reassuring smile that shouldn''t have belonged to a young boy dissipate into the void. In the past five minutes many unbelievable thing happened, and I choose to believe that all of this is reality, not a weird dream I''m having. I take in a deep breath and utter to my friend, "I might not know you, but I swear to carry your burdens and-" my heroic speech is interrupted by the annoying blue screen.
Soul Fusion finished
Memories from both souls shall be retained as conform the Laws of Kindred Spirits.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Main Personality: Arthur Waters Secondary Personality: Andrew Hawkins
Similarly to last time, I black out when I finish reading the text box.
Waking up in a luxurious place seems to have become a habit, although it was nowhere near as grand as the throne room, the unknown stones that constitutes the walls and the exquisite wooden furniture give the room a unique charm, the bed where I currently lie on is quite comfortable, albeit the matress is not on the soft side of the spectrum. I make sure there''s no one inside and call out to the System, as I now decided to call it, and it''s as expected.
Name: Andrew Hawkins Energy Cultivation Method: Non existent
Age: 13 years Energy Cultivation Realm: Non existent
Occupation: Heir of Hawkins Will Cultivation Realm: Strengthened Resilience
Quests Store (locked) Traits Skills
This window had lots of information, some were explicit and other were implicit. First, I''m now Andrew Hawkins, that was already a lot of information. Not that I hadn''t realized that when I woke up in a "unfamiliar" room with new memories. Second, there is cultivation in this world, pretty big news concerning my future as my kindred spirit hadn''t come in contact with a lot of cultivation related knowledge. These two things were already enough to break someone''s mind, but I just feel mildly uncomfortable with the idea of my whole life changing. Probably the effect of my "Will Cultivation Realm", for me this is sufficient prove that cultivation is the way to go, not that I was not already going to do that. The only strange thing is that although not having many knowledge of cultivation, the soul previously inhabiting this body still managed to cultivate his Will. From the scarce source of information that I have, Will is much more difficult to cultivate than Energy, that being the reason many dream to become a Will Wielder, someone who can control the phenomena of the Universe without even moving. I delve deeper into my memories trying to remember of my current situation and background and my discoveries make me ecstatic. I''m the son of Robertson Hawkins, the most powerful cultivator in Rising Springs City, Chief of the House of Hawkins, prodigy of the Seven Elements Academy, Guardian of the- My ramblings are interrupted by the middle-aged man who soundlessly opened the door and had been looking at me amusingly for the past minute. "It seem the doctors lied when they said you were cured of your illness, it''s more like you went insane." "It''s also good to see you, Dad." "You did went insane, only reason you''d call this old man ''Dad''" I embarrassedly apologize and he just walks to my bed side with a smile, not any less creepy than the boy''s smirk, and puts his palm on my chest. The warmth it emanates is different than bodily heat, it''s more like a hot spring. "I don''t know what happened, but I''m glad you''re okay now" he says as he sighs and hugs me tight for a while before releasing me and walking out my room, not forgoting to remind me to rest as I''m not exactly healthy yet. "It''s really good to see you, Dad..." I mumble as I think of how the soul of Andrew would have dissipated if it wasn''t for the intervention of the System, really desappearing rather than fusing with mine. I finally understand what he meant with leaving everything to me, he really left everything. Even his soul. ''I swear to carry your burdens, regrets and all that comes with your life. I from now own shall live as you. You are I, I am You.'' I slowly fall asleep after my cringy vow, ready for my first day as a new old me. Mind of a Sage It''s been a week since I woke up, since then I''ve messed around a bit with the System and found out some cool stuff about it, such as the Traits section. I have no idea about how these "traits" work, but one thing is for sure, they break rules. As in breaking the Laws of the World. Be it in this world or in my previous one there was nothing that even came close to it, although I''ve heard there are some cultivator who can bend some rules, the traits are on a completely different level. They directly ignore the Laws, I realized this when I gained the trait "Mind of the Sage" as part of the Kindred Spirit Bond package, which I gained by fusing souls with my Kindred Spirit.
Mind of a Sage
Smoke and mirrors shall become mere children''s games in front of you. See throught this world with the Mind of a Sage. Insights are only part of the Journey to understand your Way, nevertheless crucial. Understand that the Moon you see is just a reflection in the lake.
The trait itself is already overpowered, but how can you just change drastically the way someone sees the world like it''s normal? It''s like it rewrote time to fit everything into my current perspective, even the memories of my past life were slightly altered to adapt to how I see currently. This is a unthinkable level of power, nine heavens above the stories of the strongest cultivators I''ve heard of. Another interesting thing I found is regarding the Quests and Store sections, which are closely connected. First, the Store won''t open until I reach a certain Cultivation Realm, it''s unknown which. Second, the quests are reward based, some vary between Battle Skills, Cultivation Methods, Elixirs and whatnot, the similarity being that they are all incredibly rare, another example of the System ignoring rules, as it cloned Cultivation Methods never record, only known by their creators. I sigh as I give up on trying to understand how it works, by now. I walk out from my study and go to the training courtyard where Dad is waiting for me with his usual bright smile and baggy robe. "And here I thought you ran away" "I still want to learn cultivation" "You do know what it implies, right?" He frowns a bit while saying this, not that I blame him for being serious once in a while. Because, after all, he worries and loves me too much not to care about such a huge decision, but I remain unmoved. "Yes, all the good and bad parts" "I''m happy you are still as determined as always. Let us start from the basics, tell me, what is cultivation?" "I think it''s the process of how we absorb and concentrate Heavenly Energy to become stronger, of course, not forgetting the study of the laws and the mental components of it."You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Good, but what are these components?" "Mental fortitude, perception, ample mind, focus, etc... it all depends of what you believe in" "That''s what I wanted, ''it all depends of what you believe in''. That''s the base of cultivation, belief and will, without these two cultivation is impossible." "But why? It just makes me think of cultivation as a religion..." "Well, you aren''t exactly wrong, but also not correct. Cultivation and religion share many similar points, but their goal and means are different. Cultivation is much more about the inner self than the outer self, many people confuse their fundamentals because of how the changes in people who pratice them happen. Cultivators usually change from inside to outside, but the believers are the opposite, from outside to inside. Not very perceptible, isn''t it?" "You still haven''t answered my question..." "That''s more like your usual self, sighing as if you depended on it to live. I got a bit sidetracked but you''d have to learn that anyway in some point of your life. The ''why'' is because without your Will holding your focus you won''t even be able to move the Heavenly Energy, not to mention absorbing and taming it on your Dantian." Well, that''s surprising to say the least. I read in some novels of people going beserker of suffering from "Qi Deviation" or whatever, but I''ve never though it would be something even more serious. Imagine if your Cultivation Realm rises but your Will Realm doesn''t, the Qi you refined you''d just run rampant and destroy your innards and meridians. I thought the explanation was over but he actually continues talking. "Therefore, Will is what you use to control Heavenly Energy and Qi. I can seen in your face the multiple questions, but that''s something you have to figure out on your own, so I will give you the best training schedule of the world" He proceeds to hand me a paper in which is written four words of great wisdom, Self Study all day. My face twitches like I got electrocuted but he just gaves me an innocent look. "You know that''s the best for you, and even if I gave you a real training schedule, you wouldn''t be able to follow it or just would do what you thought it was best." Can''t argue with that. I definitly would do that.
I''ve finally understood why they say knowledge is the most dangerous weapon, how I saw this world a week ago when Dad gave me full acess to the library and how I see it now are worlds apart, pun very much intended. But the biggest achievement of this week is my first skill.
Reading Comprehension Lv. 2
Understanding and information extrapolation of texts is increased
It doesn''t say much, but means a lot. When I first unlocked it i didn''t feel any difference. However as I continued reading and leveled it up, I suddenly felt the books being easier to understand and speculations naturally formed in my mind, just like when I first read books after unlocking the trait Mind of a Sage. But I can''t forget about the reason of why I came here. To learn how to cultivate, and I''m getting somewhere, but I first need the 3 essential things for a mortal trying to cultivate, a Affinity Stone, a Qi Pool Stone and Elixers/pills. Affinity Stones test your affinity with the Laws, or the elements normally, as the majority of people have elemental oriented affinities. And Qi Pool Stones measure the size of your Dantian and how much Qi it can store. Knowing both your affinity and Qi Pool size are essential for choosing Battle Skills and Cultivation Methods, as practicing some technique that doesn''t suits you would just be a waste of time and potential. I hope that I have good affinities and Qi Pool size, even if I have the System there''s never enough cheats, right? With that thought I lie down on my makeshift bed and let the sweet darkness of dreamland take me. Overpowed Traits It''s the moment ot the truth, my whole life depends on the result of this test. Failure means death, sucess means glory. My hands sweat as I think of what my future brings and realize there''s nothing I can do besides waiting. That''s what I would be thinking if I hadn''t the trait Mind of a Sage, whose side effect of negating overthinking has been quite useful as I wait for the activation of the Affinity Stone. Best side effect ever, much better than the diarrhea from medicine. Dad silently waiting on the side of this secluded room watchs as I drip blood on the Stone, hoping the best and expecting the worst. The stone starts glowing after a few drops and I feel my consciousness wavering for a second before realizing I''m not in the room anymore. I''m on a lake, not a normal lake, a lake half made of azure ice and the other half made of golden flames. Even for a world where cultivation is real this is fucking bullshit. Although I know this is insane, I still feel attracted to it''s center. It''s not like a voice calling me, but the feeling when you see your home. Like I''ve always belonged there. I walk to the center of the lake with each foot on one half. Not sure how that''s possible but I don''t even care by now, I just want to get there. The ice doesn''t feel cold and the flames don''t feel hot, just unbelievably comfortable, truly like home. I reach the center of the lake and sit down, just feels like the right thing to do. When my butt touches the ground I''m terrified as where I''m sitting down is actually void of anything. Void, not just dark, I can feel there''s something there yet there isn''t. I take a deep breath and try to relax, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. The ring that formed around the void pulsates with the rise and fall of my diaphragm, the pulses become more intense with the increasing strength of my heartbeats. The fire and ice begin treading through the void until both touch my chest. The weird feeling of belonging now makes sense, I''ve always been like this, mixed between ice and fire, void being the peacemaker. This place is my heart, the way it really is. The threads touching me start to fuse until becoming one, the entire ring becomes a mix of icy fire and golden ice and the void flows between each contact of ice and fire, controlling them like a maestro. I lose all sense of self with the constant pulsating rhythm and the comfortable feeling. It''s like sleeping, but staying awake at the same time. With my senses heightened and my heart clearer than ever, I let everything that''s happened in my life, both of them actually, flow through my head, sorting all emotions in their places. The confusion I first felt felt when I arrived, the fear of this brand new world, the anxiety of the my own expectations, everything just went away with each breath, cleansing my soul even further. And there I sat, for who knows how long, seconds became minutes, minutes became hours, hours became days. Until it all faded away into my, and only mine, void heart.
My eyes opened to the floating barrage of notifications. They had changed quite a bit, from the blue window to a frameless message. Simple and efficient, I like that. New Trait, "Seed of Void", unlocked! Heaven and Earth came from void Will the seed in your heart germinate? -Additional characteristics to Will. -Strenghtened affinities to all Laws. New Trait, "Dual Harmonization", unlocked!If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Ice and Fire Yin and Yang Destruction and Creation The Laws of Duality are natural to you, just opposites sides of the same coin in your sight. -Every Law related to the Duality have their affinities strenghtened. -Law Harmony unlocked! Though giving a simpler font, it still is philosofical. But more important, the new traits I gained are fucking absurd. I''m getting tired of being shocked by the System''s features, they''re just too overpowered. You have to know that having affinity to one Law is already good, affinity to ALL LAWS is ridiculous. Even if it''s just a little more affinity, it''s overpowered. Not to mention the part regarding Will, that''s something I don''t dare to guess. Don''t feel like dying from anxiety yet. "So, how did it go?" I almost forgot Dad was still in the room... "It was... strange" "Then it must have been awesome. What are your affinities?" I consider telling him about how I got the Void Affinity, but refrain from this because of general lack of information regarding the subject, so I just tell him the second most incredible thing. "Fire and Ice, mixed" "What the fuck do you mean by mixed?!" "Like in cold flames and hot ice" He becomes silent for a few seconds and continues. "Don''t tell anyone about the mixed part, not that you would do that with your personality. However, having two opposite affinities is not normal although possible." "Yes, Dad" "Good. Now, you must know what''s the best Cultivation Method for you right? I can see it in your face" he''s usual laugh following that, never get tired of this old man''s weird laugh. "I do, can I go now?" "Go and don''t come back before reaching Qi Gathering Realm" once again laughing his ass off as I run to the library, not wanting to lose the insights I got from the the lake of ice and fire, the best fuel to my chosen Cultivation Method, Nine Void Worlds Technique. This Cultivation Method was the bonus reward for completing the ceremony by gaining more than 5 affinities increasement of the quest "Affinity Awakening Ceremony", name self-explanatory. The bonus reward was why I got a void type one istead of the neutral type 7 Chakras Technique, that although strong, it''s not enough for someone with this absurd set of affinities. I arrive at the library and sit on the ground, pressing the Qi Pool Stone on my navel I slowly make threads with my Will and infuse them into the stone which starts measuring the size of my Qi Pool. After a few seconds the result is shown in the stone, but the system clarifies the complicated drawings for me. Qi Pool size is 3 times higher than the most cultivators; mid-high level The result is pretty good considering that the classification of size are: lowest, low-mid, low-high, mid-low, mid, mid-high, high-low, high and highest. Not the best considering the massive Qi Pool size required by the Cultivation Method, but I have a feeling I will solve this problem somehow. As the Cultivation Method was imprinted on my mind, I just started by calming myself down and clearing my head. The first step to cultivation is sensing Heavenly Energy, so let''s start with that. I focus my Will and let it evenly spread around me, trying to get a feel for it while subconsciously breathing on the same rhythm I followed on the ceremony. The rhythmic flow helps me and I soon feel the space around me being brighter than before, with lights like those on the Soul Realm, but sparser and more ethereal. I tighten my Will around these lights and drag them into my Dantian and start refining it into Qi by circulating it around my meridians. I repeat the process exactly 81 times before I feel a barrier in the absorption. These are bottlenecks, you have to grind your way through it or gather enough momentum to destroy the wall separating a Stage from another. Only after I break through this barrier will I achieve Qi Gathering, where the Qi gather inside my Dantian and doesn''t dissipate if I lose focus. I choose to go for the brute force way, gathering the small amount of Qi I refined and shaping it into a sword with my Will condensing it the most I can and ready myself for the push. I will it foward and the sword slices through the barrier with surprising ease and the Qi gushes like a spring in my Dantian. I almost howl at the moon like a wolf from emotion, not the most common way to demonstrate happiness, but still feel incredibly happy from achieving Qi Gathering 1st Stage. However, my momentaneous outburst of emotions is interrupted by the System''s notification. Energy Cultivation Realm increased to Qi Gathering 1st Stage Due to your Cultivation method you unlocked the unique Trait "Void Manipulation" Trait "Void Manipulation" You embrace the Void as your own self Shape the nothing into everything I''m starting to accept the fact that the System''s objective seems to be making me as overpowered as possible. Training Duel I wake up hearing my Dad shouting at me for no reason whatsoever. "Wake up, son. You ran away last night with the Qi Pool stone and I don''t even know what happened." Though he''s smiling, I can hear he gritting his teeths. But I can''t even think of an excuse because I just got possed by some god of cultivation last night and forgot he was there at all. "Sorry Dad, the result was mid-high" but did you have to wake me up just for this? "Not bad. Go rinse your teeth and come to the training courtyard." "Yes, Father" I rinse my teeth as I was told and walk slowly to the destination looking at the desert corridors transversal to the one I''m following now. The manor wasn''t like this before, but after Mother went away and I got sick the servants became silent and don''t appear easily without being called. Part of the reason is that my disease, if it could be called, seemed to make the Heavenly Energy sparser around me. As the servants are commoners with little talent they were more than glad to come here, a valley rich in Heavenly Energy, to serve us, but as it was sparser around me the servants started to spend the least time around me and just came to do essential things. Basically I only saw them few times in a week. I reach the courtyard where I see my father and surprisingly, the servants. Some women, but mostly men. There are a few of them that are standing out from the line, but right now I''m more worried about the weapon rack Dad is standing beside, but also expectant. Every kid has had a dream about fighting with swords and spears alright? "What are you stading in a daze for? Come here, your training will start now. Thirty seconds to choose your weapon. Go!" The fuck? Forget that, I don''t have time to think about Dad''s reasoning. I just run to the weapon rack and look at the weapons there. Spears, sabers, daggers, scimitars, halberds, swords and a few other weapons I don''t know the name are there. Going by logic, the obvious choice would be a spear because of it''s range. "5 seconds, hurry up" I''m pretty that barely 10 seconds have passed, but Dad''s impassive voice is kinda scary so I don''t complain. Damn, I''ll just go with the sword. I grab the double-edge sword, I think it classifies as a Jian sword, not that it matters right now. "Time''s up, you are going to fight with Rob. Do your best, son." I can think of multiple reason why he would do this sort of training, but none of them matter right now. I just have to focus on what''s in front of me. Rob is one of the servants who were standing out before. He stands at around my height, 170 cm tall, but he has some muscles compared to my slim, almost skinny, body. His broad shoulders and big arms are intimidating, but not any more than his eyes. Those aren''t the eyes of a normal servant, eyes like a eagle seeing a prey. He walks towards me and bows, not as a servant bowing to a master, but a fighter bowing to his opponent. I bow back and ready myself with the sword in hands. We are about 10 meters apart, if he comes at me I will have time to react, and vice versa. But man plans, and the other man laughs. In one second he''s already covered half of the distance, I step back but I''m not quick enough to even run away. I pivot with my left foot and prepare for his strike. However there was never enough preparation. He suddenly changes his path and moves diagonally to my right and striking horizontally at my belly. I try to parry his strike but his raw power is enough to make my parry useless and I fall to the ground. Rob''s sword on my neck and I pathetically lying in the ground. Truly embarrassing.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "Stand up and fight. You chose this path." I do as Dad says and stand up, I''m not running away. Rob isn''t next to me anymore, but already at his position at the start of the duel. I return to my position and bow towards him and he reciprocates. The second bout begins with Rob running towards me again, but this time I move towards his right hand, his dominant one. With this he won''t be able to use his full strength, now begins my strategy. He swings his sword diagonally aiming towards my neck and I successfully parry his strike this time, purely by reflex. We both step back and I decide to make an the offensive this time. I make a feint for the left and bring my momentum back to the right as I swing my sword aiming not for his neck, but for his chest. Even if he got fooled by me he still managed to parry although he lost balance. I thrust towards his right shoulder. However his movement becomes so fast I can even follow it with my body and he blocks my strike and from the recoil I fall to the ground once again. I''m lying on the ground once again without understanding how I lost but the words Dad say are different now. "You won, son" "Huh? But he blocked and I''m on the ground" "True. However, he used Qi to strengthen his strike at the last moment" I didn''t even think of that, I fought only using some strategy I made at the spot, but forgot that I also am a cultivator. Besides, I only won because Rob didn''t expect me to counterattack and lost his balance. "I made you fight with him for two reason, to learn basic combat and the uses of Qi. Qi Strengthening is only the most elemental use of Qi, there are many more you have to learn before you can call yourself a fighter." "Yes, Dad." "Now, get ready. This time you won''t have it so easy" He truly meant that. For the next five bouts me and Rob had, he used Qi in every damn strike. When Dad called a end to the training my hands were bleeding between my thumbs and index fingers, that hurts like hell. However, my gains with the training were as great as my pain. Sword Mastery Lv. 1 Practice makes perfect, hardships are expected when you desire perfection. Basic Combat Reflexes Lv. 1 Your body works faster than your mind, instincts triumph in a fight. Though both skills are generic, they are no short of amazing. However they don''t defy the Laws like the Traits, but they improve passively my sword skills and combat reflexes respectively although their levels seems dependent on my own skills and reflexes. Therefore the levels are proportial to my actual level of ability on the subject. After getting medicine from the cabinet besides my study table I sit on the ground in a lotus form and start cultivating. Just like last time I use my Will to drag Heavenly Energy and then refine it into Qi. I repeat the process a few times before I feel a barrier, however I don''t intend to break it right now as my instincts tell me it won''t work. I grind it a little with my Qi and then gather more Heavenly Energy to replenish the Qi lost in the grinding, as my Cultivation Method tells me, this process will purify my Qi and make it more suitable for the Void Laws in the future and consequentially to all other Laws. I do this until I''m tired and the barrier is just half as strong as it was before, barely enough for me to destroy it. However I decide to break throught after I get a good feeling on my Qi Strengthening so I already have a good control about my Qi. I try to control a small part of my Qi with my Will and make it run towards my right arm, which it does, but a lot of it is lost on the way because I''m only at the Qi Gathering Stage and haven''t opened my meridians yet, so I can only make the Qi travel on the surface of the meridians and not through them. Though it isn''t perfect, the Qi reachs my arm and I infuse the purpose of strengthening on it. The use of "purpose" on Qi is the elementary idea of all Qi based skills, it makes the Qi take the property of what I want it to have, in the realms of what I know and the Laws allow of course. I punch the wooden training dummy and it''s cchest now has a small cavity. But damn, this shit hurts. I forgot the pain because the cultivation partially healed my wounds, but it was really only partially. I should ask Dad to teach me how to heal myself. I start cultivating again hoping it will alleviate my pain and it sure works, after a few rounds of circulation my wounds once again are at the state they were just before I punched the dummy. However the barrier barely had any alteration, probably the more you grind the harder it''ll be to grind further, although easier to smash in one hit. I go to sleep half nervous and half expectant about tomorrow''s training. I''m always looking forward for improvement. Lonely stars in the bright sky Time passes as a river and a month goes by in the blink of an eye. In this past month my life has been basically like this: sleeping, eating, sword training, resting, more sword training until night, cultivating and repeat. Sometimes changing the times of sword training and cultivating. Even though doing this every single day is boring, it''s definitly not dull. I''m fighting with a real sword and cultivating, just like in the novels I had read in my previous life. This is part of what made me bear with the training, but not the only thing as my breakthroughs and constantly leveling up Skills were responsible for protecting my sanity along with Mind of a Sage. Andrew Hawkins Age: 13 years Occupation: Heir of Hawkins Energy Cultivation Method: Nine Void Worlds Technique Energy Cultivation Realm: Qi Gathering 4th Stage Will Cultivation Realm: Strengthened Resilience There were many changes, but they are trivial compared to the Skills section. Skills: Sword Mastery Lv. 3, Reading Comprehension Lv. 7, Basic Combat Reflexes Lv. 4, Qi Will Manipulation Lv. 3, Meditation Lv. 1, Myriad Waters Sword Technique Lv. 2, Burning Skies Yang Fire Technique Lv. 3. Let''s start with Sword Mastery and Basic Combat Reflexes, they don''t seem to have gone up much compared to Reading Comprehension, but the difference they make are huge. There''s a entire abyss of actual skill level between my previous swordsmanship, if it could be called that, and my current one, same for reflexes. However the level only increased by 2 and 3 levels respectively, as I tend to dodge more than parry. Though physical combat skills are great, they aren''t as powerful as my Battle Skills. The first Battle Skill I learn was the Myriad Water Sword Technique Dad instructed me to practice as this technique involves an ever changing swordplay and footwork, even though it only says "Sword" on it''s name. The second one was the Burning Skies Yang Fire Technique which allows me to absorb the energy of the sun, or Yang Fire, and infuse it in my body, enhancing my vitality and therefore, my recovery speed. Of course, on the later levels it''ll have great combat strength, but right now I don''t have enough Yang Fire on my body to use it as a actual Battle Skill. The second Technique was bought with the EXP I traded with my painstakingly refined Qi, a cool feature of the shop. However the amount of Qi I had to exchange for enough points to obtain the Burning Skies Yang Fire Technique was enough for me to break through 2 Stages although I could only get the first two stages of the Technique. But it was worth it, the Technique made my training much easier as I recover faster than before, another reason I didn''t collapse in the second week of this hellish training routine. The only problem I had was explaining how I got this Technique when Dad asked me how the fuck I got my hands on this kind of stuff. So I used a card I didn''t wanna play, ever. "It was something Mother left for me before she left" The look on Dad''s face softened when I said that, but my heart was being grinded by guilt, both by talking about Mother and by lying with a sad face. However, I just couldn''t bring myself to tell him about the System in any way possible. The guilt only made me practice this Technique even harder, the reason why it''s a level higher than the first skill I learned.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The thing that made all these possible was Qi Will Manipulation, which is the skills responsible for the ability of how I manipulate Qi using my Will. Pretty simple, but astonishingly useful. This made the loss of Qi when strengthening my body lower and even the quickness of it was higher. However the most powerful use of this was with Meditation. Meditation is a Skill I got on the end of the first week of training. It''s effect being to improve my concentration and focus while meditating. But as concentration and focus are fundamental parts of Will, this Skill made my cultivation speed soar, and with the increase of speed my realm went from Qi Gathering 1st Stage to Qi Gathering 4th Stage in 3 weeks. An astonishing rate of cultivation overall. But the most important thing is that Dad will be sending me to the Seven Elements Academy. Truthfully I could have gone there before using my father''s connections, but I chose to practice more here and establish a good foundation for my cultivation before I went to a more competitive place. However I can''t delay this anymore as Dad said that for the time I''ve been cultivating my Realm is great, but for my age group as a whole, I would only be average. Same for my Battle Skills. As much as I''m looking forward for this change of environment, I''ll miss Dad. I''ve only been living this life for barely one month and a half but I love that old man just like the old man from my previous life, it''s like both of our fathers were Kindred Spirits as well. I cultivate on my bedroom for the last time before I depart tomorrow''s morning. I though I''d have trouble sleeping today, but I gently fall asleep with the rhythm of my heartbeat.
"Why are you here?" "What? Don''t you want this old man to come with you?" "No, well, I mean... I''m just surprised." I''m inside the carriage, looking astonished and my father is in the seat in front of me with a smile. I was surprised when he said he would come with me to the academy to be a instructor there. However, I was even more surprised when he said he would leave the Manor in the care of Rob, my usual sparring partner, as he''s the second most powerful person there, first being my father of course. I''m kinda scared about how I sparred against someone at least of the of the Nascent Earth Realm, the third Realm, after the Channel Opening Realm, but before the divide of the Three Foundational Realms and the first of the Transcendent Realms, the Dividing Sky Realm. The carriage starts moving as my father put a energy stone in it''s the core, accessible from inside the carriage, for what would be a long journey as the manor we leave in is deep into the mountains, it''s going to be about 4 to 5 days on a bumpy road, eating rations. Even cultivating is hard as the constant bumps on the road make it difficult for me to concentrate. But after two days I got accostumed to it and finally could began cultivating after two days of staring at the plains and rivers, far away from home. I didn''t realize this before, but this carriage was faster than it seemed, a normal one could travel about 25 kilometers a day, but this one was almost double that in speed from what I could guess. Though it roughly resembles a car from the way it moved, it isn''t even close to the comfort of one. Two days after and I we have finally reached the city of Rising Springs. The big wall stretches for a few kilometers, impressive considering the standard of the technology here in this mid-level city of the Great Crow Empire. We reach the city where a man with a uniform inspects evey caravan of merchants, but when he reaches our carriage my father shows him the emblem of our house, the Golden Eagle, and he let us enter just like that. The other people should be pretty pissed off, not they can do anything to harm nobles of the Empire, high ranked ones at that. Entering the city I almost got blinded with the night lights arranged on the walls of each building. They are not torches but lamps made with natural light stones, similar to the ones in our manor. The streets are not crowded, but you can see well dressed people coming and going from bars, old and young alike. As the carriage traverses the main avenue I look at the huge Academy in the distance, the place we came here for. The high towers and grand pavillions I can see from afar, the architecture of every single building was highlighted by high tiered light stones of every color possible, seeming like a dance of fairys in the dark of night. The stars above it seems lonely, although they are close to each other in the sky. I won''t let my heart resemble these solitary stars. We reach our new residence, the Willow Tree Manor, and get out the carriage and tell the servants of the manor to carry them to our bedrooms as we go take a bath after a long trip. We''d already ask for directions before going, but still got lost in this new house, or should I say, home. Dad and I laugh at each other for a full minute, with a warm feeling around us, we begin our adventures through our new home, ready for the day''s yet to come. First day at the Academy The morning lights shine through the Willow Tree leaves and enter my eyes and the fresh breeze of this cool day chills my new bedroom. I stand up, rinse my teeth and dress myself. Dad is eating breakfast at the table inside the small pagoda by the lake. All of this courtyard resembles a japanese garden from my previous life, but the workmanship of the carvings in the bridge over the lake and the pagoda are much more exquisite, at least for me who likes carving of dragons and phoenixes. "Morning, enjoying your tea Dad?" I say with a sarcastic tone, I''ve grown used to making fun of him for drinking tea for breakfast as only noble ladies have this habit. Specially if they use the traditional tea cerimony of the Empire. "Shut up and eat your food" he says and angrily throws a nut a me, which I would have managed to catch if he hadn''t used his Will to control the nut to go into my mouth. I almost choked, but I could see Dad out of the corner of my eye laughing at my face, covered in tears and muces. After I almost died Dad gives me a handkerchief so I clean my face and start eating while staring at his disgustingly handsome smirk. At least I only got his features, not his habit of annoying people to death. "Your old man will be sad if you continue staring at him like that." stop acting like you''ve been wronged... I stand up after finishing breakfast, but Dad stops me from training my Battle Skills as we''re going to the Academy right now. I didn''t think we would go this early, but it''s a good thing as I''m really excited to go there. We leave the manor and walk there by the main avenue. The stores are not open yet as many of them have products target at the noble population of the city, who don''t usually go shopping early. However, the ones who are opened are packed with people eating and chatting surround by a warm atmosphere. This city is in many ways similar to the ones in my previous life, but also different. I stop thinking about the past and focus on the Seven Elements Academy in front of me. It''s huge gate between two crystalline pillars give it are fancy aura and invoke curiosity in the ones who try to look inside. Dad flashes a token to the guards who respectfully open the gates. On the simple gravel path a old man stands with his hands behind his back, his figure was small and yet firm; like a small mountain. "It''s been some time, Robbie." the old man''s gaze towards Dad looks like a father looking at a son coming home; maybe I should call the old man "grandpa"? "I''m sorry. After Helena left and Andrew''s disease flared up I just shunned you out of our lives, I''m really sorry.". The guilty tone Dad speaks in makes me feel my guess was spot on, or at least close. I bow to the old man, presumably my grandpa, to which he just hugs me and pinchs my cheeks. "You little devil, letting this old man alone for ages. Don''t you have any shame?" now I know why Dad is the way he is... "I''m sorry, grandpa" I try my best to talk while he''s pinching my cheeks with ferocity. However his quick change of attitude caughts me off guard as he just starts to crush me in his embrace and laughs like thunder reverberate in my ears. "See, Robbie? This is what a good kid is like, you were a terrible child to raise. Kiddo, even if we''re not related by blood, you can call me grandpa as much as you want." His smile is just like Dad''s, warm and with a hint of doting behind it. I never had a grandfather, be it in this life or my previous one. This is the first time I''ve felt the love of the elder generation, it''s similar to a parent''s love, but without any restrains for fear of the consequences of excessive doting. We chat as we walk to the biggest build in the whole Academy, the Tower of Elders. It''s where grandpa and the other important figures who manage the school live in, and also where the major decisions are made. When we enter the building the majestic circular walls and stairways make the whole space feel gigantic, like everything in the Academy. I''m awed by the aesthetic sense of the ones who made this place, truly amazing. "Pretty cool isn''t it, kid? Robbie was also stupefied by this little tower when I first brought him here." We walk up the stairs and slowly reach the top floor. The golden door in front of us opens as Grandpa waves his sleeve at it, Gramps sure is cool. The room inside is extremely spacious, resembling a training facility. I can kinda guess why they brought me here. "Son, demonstrate the Battle Skill I taught you." "But I don''t have my sword" "Stupid. Battle Skills are fixed to a weapon, but your understandings of the Laws and it''s concepts are not, use your body as your sword." Seems simple enough. It''s just the first step to comprehending any type of weapon intent... But no matter how absurd I think this is I still want to try it. I''ve always fantasized about using my fingers as swords. I walk to the center of the room, take a deep breath and let my body take my mind for a trip; simply letting my instinct take over everything. The moves I engraved in my body were magnified as my heartbearts and breath give life to my sword. There''s no more difference between my body and my sword; were one. My demonstration continued for who knows how long, I lost sense of time and just went along with the flow. It only ended after all the moves of the Myriad Waters Sword Techniques were shown in something like a dance, my swordsmanship perfectly fusing with my footwork. "Beautiful swordplay, it''s even more fluid than your''s, Robbie. However it doesn''t have the same strength of your display when I taught you." "Hmm, but it isn''t necessarily a bad thing. Besides, he has a mind like water since young. What do you think about teaching him?" "I''d already teach him even if you didn''t ask me, I''ve taken a liking to this kiddo." I can''t hear what they are saying because of the Sound Transmission they''re using, but I can roughly understand what the meaning is. I really hope I''m guessing right, although Dad is stronger than Grandpa now, he was the one taught by him, so Gramps teaching skills should be top notch, it would bee really great to have him as my master.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Kid, would you take me as your master?" "Yes, master!" I kowtow as the traditional discipleship cerimony says, but Grandpa just helps me standing up saying these rites are pure bullshit. He gives me a evaluating look, making me worry if my clothes are appropried for the moment as I''m only using a tight fit white T-shirt and brown pants. "I presume you don''t know how my Academy works?" "I have no idea." "Alright, let''s start with the basics. The schedule here is free, you do whatever you want with your time, be it cultivating, attending classes of various subjects or just sleeping. No one will control you, well, except me. So make the best use of your time, you''ll only be allowed to be here for 10 years, for you that my sound like a lot however to real cultivator 10 years is but a second." "Yes, Grandpa" "Good, I''ll have someone show you your dormitories, you''ll live together with at least two others. Getting to know people is also part of the experience." he stops for a second and gives a look towards Dad, who just nods. Now lip reading once again becomes a useless skill. Grandpa grabs a jade stone from who knows where inside his robe and swiftly a young man in black appears by the door and drags me to the dormitories before I can say anything. "Hey, dude, stop dragging me. I can walk just fine, you know?" "Ah! Sorry, I was just too nervous to be in front of the Dean..." For some reason I know he isn''t lying, but it only makes me angrier. Who the hell drags someone for a hundred meters and several stair steps because he''s nervous? Great, the first person I meet in the Academy is a fucking lunatic... "Alright, alright. What''s your name?" "I''m Douglas Terrier, son of Marcus and Rosa" although I think ''like in the dog breed?'', I just introduce myself in the same way he did. "I''m Andrew Hawkins, son of Robertson and Helena" Right now I''m kinda glad not many people of the younger generation are aware of Dad''s name and what "House of Hawkins" means as it would be quite a big commotion if it was made known that the strongest cultivator of the region had returned to Rising Springs City. "So, are you my dormmate?" "Yeah, the Dean told me to go pick up our new dormmate so I went there as quickly as I could." it seems your nervousness vanished as quickly as you dragged me here... "Come in, I''ll introduce you to Richard and Lyra, they just arrived from their classes" I follow him as we enter the house I''ll share with these 3 people for a long time, and the first thing I see is a young man smiling at me in a creepy way, and the tall girl next to him gazing curiously my face. The man has dark curly hair, green eyes, broad shoulders, a face more square than not and well toned muscles. He''s a entire head taller than all of us, standing at around 180 centimeters I guess. Just like me and Doggy by my side, the woman is about 170 centimeters tall, but her golden eyes and long jet black hair are like the works of a god, the same can be said about her sharp face and long eyebrows. If she lived in my previous world she''d be the most breathtaking person when she became an grown woman. Her innocent gaze is reminder that she''s still a youth like the rest of us, not a goddess incarnated in the mortal plane. "What''s your name new guy?" "I''m Andrew Hawkins, son of Robertson and Helena" I don''t really like introducing myself like this, but I don''t know how else to do it. However my discomfort in doing this is not really important compared to the adoration look I see on the girl when I say Dad''s name. "You''re the son of the Swordsman of Infinite Rain?!" the girl, Lyra, almost burst my eardrums with her shout and pierces my soul with her gaze before she continues "Can I meet him?" "Yeah, of course" better make this quick before she starts shouting again, my ears hurt... "But only if Dad doesn''t want to meet you I can''t do anything." "Thank you!" she shouted again, but this time it was in sweet and clear voice, not the like the thunderous voice she used before. I feel my ears actually healing a bit just by hearing her words, unbelievable. "Are you a healer?" I really want to know this as healers are also known as living treasures, from this nickname you can understand their importance. "Of course, this great person is a great healer. Kneel down, peasants!" her answer doesn''t surprise me, but her boasting tone does. However I should have known none of these people are normal, even the most normal person here has a creepy smile. "Alright, alright. Let the guy breath for a second Lyra, okay? I presume Doug already said our names to you, so let''s just skip the introductions. So, what about a spar?" I was right, the most normal guy here''s probably a fighting junkie. I can only sigh and concede as all of them just encourage me to come with them to the duel facilities of the Academy. Richard grabs a guan dao from a weapon rack and I grab my usual and beloved jian sword. We both jump up to the 8x8 arena and go to opposite sides. I bow to him and he does the same, but before I can''t prepare I hear Lyra shouting "Start!". He comes at me quickly, but I don''t think he''s using Qi right now, so I start trying to get to his sides but he''s agile enough to keep up with my footwork. I infuse my sword with Qi and perform the move that made my father famous, Infinite Rain. Multiple beams of Water-Qi travel towards him as I continuously thrust but he blocks some of them with his, now Qi infused, weapon and then dodges the other part, only a few of the beams reach his clothes, but I managed to slow him down. His momentum died down however his confident smile hasn''t faded away. He lowers his blade until it softly touches the ground, his movement rapidly change as the long blade of wind whistles when it leaves his weapon. I dodge it by a hair''s breadth, but Richard started charging the moment he finished branding his guan dao and my body is almost at his weapon''s reach. I decide to make a risky move. I reach withing my Qi Pool and drag half of it''s reserves and disperse it in the form of Water-Qi right in front of my feet, strengthening my arm with the purpose of "speed" I use my sword to shape a Water-Qi barrier in front of me, a cool trick Dad taught me. He thrust his guan dao through the barrier easily, but it lost great part of it''s speed and power, making it easy for me to dodge it and quickly counterattack as I disperse a part of the barrier and freeze the other one that covers his arm. My thrust connects with his shoulder, however something feels odd, and it''s then that I see his finger, covered in sharp Wind-Qi, aimed at my heart. What boldness, sacrificed his shoulder for the opponents heart; I lost to a great fighter. "You fought well, not many first years can draw some blood from me" his shoulder continues to bleed as we speak, however it isn''t a really bad injure to him as I can feel the Qi he''s using to heal the wound carries great vitality. "Thanks, great move by the way" it really was a great move, not many would expect that kind determination to win in a fight. "Don''t mention it, I''m at the Qi Gathering 6th Stage but almost got beat by you, three stages lower than me. Your fighting skills are good, but you don''t have much power in them. The same can be said about the speed of your attacks." He continued to lecture me for an a while before we resumed our sparring session, my head hurts from all his monologue but it was really useful overall. He commented about every aspect of my fighting skills, both good and bad ones, and gave me suggestions on how to overcome my short comings. After that, I sparred with Doggy. The fight was really boring as he just defended with his pole and tried to make me lose my balance by using his Earth-Qi to change the places I stepped on. It ended in a tie as both of us were just too tired to continue fighting. We ended up up returning to our dorm for a short break, now that I''m thinking about it, why didn''t he lecture me in the dorm, but in this scalding summer sun? The table in our courtyard was full of all sorts of delicacies which I had never seen before, even if I had already eaten breakfast I still wanted to have a taste of these. However Richard started teasing me as soon as I started devouring the food. "Slow down, man. We ain''t stealing your food." Doggy and Lyra laugh at my face covered in crumbs of various pastries, being laughed at by a dog and a goddess is not fun at all. I forcefully swallow the food in the mouth and mutter "I need energy to fight". They burst out laughing at my wronged face and this was how my first day at the Academy went, surrounded by new friends. Heaven favors the talented People die for wealth like birds die for food; I''ve never agreed more to this idiom. After I finished eating my pastries Richard "invited" me to come to the market pick something as a welcoming gift. I happily agreed, thinking I''d get some cool stuff for free. How wrong was I... They made me carry all the stuff they bought, including the delicate jewelry Lyra seduced out of a few vendors. Poor guys, being scammed by this goddess must be hard, not that I''m in a much better situation altogether. The vendors announcing their products and the crowded streets make me feel a little nostalgic. I sometimes dream about my old family, my grumpy Dad, kind Mother and the little devil that''s my little brother. But strangely I never thought about going back, nor regreted coming here. I do want to see them again, but not now; I have a new path opened in front of me, one I want to follow. A path I chosefor myself. My daydreaming is interrupted by a little boy, about six years old, tugging the hem of my pants with a stoic expression. The kid was dressed in good clothes and had a healthy complexion, probably the son of a noble who got lost. Following this train of thought I ask, "Where are your parents? Where do you live?". Instead of answering my questions, the boy just runs away. I''d normally not do anything, at most shout for him to stop. However, the Sytem''s notification changes my mind. Dynamic Quest triggered due to trait "Path Opener" Follow the boy. A new Path will open to you. I disregard everything and run towards the boy, bumping into a few people in the process, but steadily catching up. I can hear Lyra and the others complaining loudly about how I just put all their stuff on the ground and started running, but I ignore them as the boy is quickly turning into alleys and I don''t wanna lose track of him. After a few more turns the boy stops before a cellar door and so do I. Surprisingly he isn''t out of breath, I''m also fine as the elixirs Dad fed me while I was sick and the Burning Skies Yang Fire Technique increased my vitality considerably. He turns around and gestures with his hands for me to follow him into downstairs. We walk down the stairway, litten by light stones, until we reach a big hall where a old man is seated, enjoying himself painting weird shapes in a canvas. I look around and realize there aren''t any air paths for ventilation purposes, but the air is fresh in here. "It''s a Fresh Breeze formation, would you like to learn it, boy?" the old man calmly explains to me seeing through my thoughts, but his question makes me startled. The Way of Formations is one of the mystic occupations cultivators can study on the Academy. However, it requires a lot of talent to learn, just like the healing techniques Lyra studies under her teacher or alchemy. So I''m very confused as to why he asked if I''d like to learn formations, like, how does he know If I have the talent, and more importantly, who is to be on the level of teaching others? "Don''t think too much, it''s just some old books and brushes." he once again knows what I''m thinking about, I don''t like this feeling, but despite that I''ll accept the offer, "Thank you, Sir. I''ll be happy to accept your gift." "Lenus, bring the books in the second bookshelf, the second row from the top." The boy whose name is Lenus runs to the bookshelf and skillfully grabs all the books in the second row in a specific order, using a little bench of course. He''s quite strong as he can carry all these books easily with his small body, reminding me a bit of Grandpa; small but solid like a mountain. He hands me all the books and gives me a nod as if saying ''take good care of them'' and goes back to the old man''s side. I leave the underground hall as the old man gestures with his hand for me to go. My mind is filled with a myriad of questions. How does the trait "Path Opener" works? Why the old man gave me these books? And many more of such thoughts enter my mind, even though they are meaningless. I won''t be able to find out the answers any time soon. "The fuck" I''m on the streets, I just got out of the cellar door, but it isn''t there anymore. It vanished abruptly, like ghosts in the night. Could this be a formation''s work? Whatever, I''ll just look for those bastards, they still need to buy me something. Speak of the devil and he shall come, I see them running towards me with angry, yet incredulous expressions. Richard expression is particularly amusing, with a mix of disbelief and foolishness. He starts swearing at me the moment our eyes meet, followed by annoyed remarks from Lyra and Doggy, but I don''t even bother to reply until Lyra says, "And how the fuck did you dissapear into a wall?"The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "What?" My answer just earns me some more puzzled looks. I''m don''t understand what she meant by ''dissapearing into a wall'', am I a wizard? I don''t think this conversation is going anywhere, so I start explaining how the boy tugged my pants and I followed him, eventually finding the cellar door and the old man who gave me the books I''m holding right now. After I finished my epic story telling Richard and the others expressions had shifted to a grave one and started muttering one thing after another. I could only roughly hear the words ''formation'', ''grandmaster'' and ''illusion''. I just brush it aside, there''s no point in thinking about this. It''s not like we''re getting anything useful out of this conversation, besides, I still want my welcome gift. We return to the Academy after I made them buy me a beatiful battle armor, crimson with golden and black carvings. Overall, a great worksmanship. However, the best part is that the metal used to forge this armor was Iron Bamboo mixed with volcanic ashes, making it incredibly flexible, hard and compatible to Yang energies in general. Perfect for my fight style which revolves around agile movement and counterattack, one of the most dangerous styles. It''s price was a ''little'' high, being two hundred gold coins worth in value but bargained down to one hundred and seventy. But it''s still an astronomical value for commoners, as they only make about one gold coin every two months. However commoners in this world aren''t mistreated, at least in the Golden Crow Empire, earning quite a lot compared to other fantasy worlds I had read about, so this armor is worth roughly thirty years of commoners work. I follow them to the first class available in the morning, Introduction to Herbs. This class is deemed as one of the most boring, yet, most important ones in the whole Academy as the ability to indentify herbs is crucial in the outside world. The classroom has several seats, but no desks. The teacher, a middle-aged man with dark hair is standing in front of everyone, behind him is the board with abstract drawings of plants and descriptions written by the side. He makes an quick overview of the characteristics of every herb before moving on to the next one, his words flow rapidly, yet, concise. An hour quickly passes by and the various students are getting bored, so the teacher proposes a question to us, "Let''s say you see two herbs, one is a fatal poison and the other a panacea. But they are very similar, almost exactly the same, and you don''t know which is the panacea and which is the poison. What do you do?" After a brief moment of total silence a student raises his hand and says, "I take both of them and go to a city to get someone to identify it for me" to which the teacher simply responds to with one word, "Dead". I can see the confusion not only on the that student''s face, but on everyone else in the classroom, me not being an exception. However, the teacher doesn''t bother to explain why he was "dead", but just points at someone else expecting him to answer. The student freezes for a second with a look of ''oh fuck'' and stammers a little before finally putting together his sentence, "H-he should uh see if any uh animals have gone near the plants, if not, can''t they be both poisonous?" The teacher''s eyes seem to shine for a second before he says, "Correct, but you didn''t explain why they are poisonous" he writes on the board behind him ''Correlation between Herbs and Environment'' and continues to speak, "This is something you must understand, everything in nature is linked, be the birds and trees or the bees and flowers. Nothing, and I mean it, nothing ever exists by itself, there''s always outside interference. This was a trick question; the herbs looked alike because they were the same, you can be fooled by sounds nor smells, and more importantly, not by your eyes; these are all ways nature has to deceive you and grow stronger. I''ll let you guys think about it now, class dismissed." I walk to the dormitories with a lot on my mind. Richard and Doggy said the classes related to Herbology were boring as hell, but I like it. Well, my study method in my student''s life in my previous world was one that focused on comprehending the concepts rather than memorizing everything, even if I was good at memorizing I deslike doing the tedious work I had to do for it''s sake. Because of this my attention and focus peaked when the teacher asked that question, trying to understand and absorb every single piece of knowledge he gave me. I didn''t manage to answer the question, not even tried to, but I realized something much better. ''Everything in nature is linked'', these words made me think of my enlightenment, I had felt that all the moves were many that came from one, all the same, yet different. They were not to be separated into steps, or ''forms" as the Technique says, but freed from their constrains and released as I will it. The waves on the oceans, the streams on the mountains, even the clouds on the sky, the cycle is always moving forward, never stopping, even for a second.This is the nature of water, always moving, shapeless and lively; this is also my simple and pure desire, to be like water. I feel the air around me fluctuating like waves in the ocean in response to my breath and heartbeat, the Heavenly Energy starts to rush into my body like a river flowing into the ocean. I sit down just outside the dorms and start to cultivate, I can''t waste this chance; my cultivation is already behind others my age. The vortex is rapididly absorbed into my body without me doing anything, so I just focus on refining my Qi. The speed I''m converting the energy to Qi is at least ten times faster than usual, but I don''t feel any loss of energy as I circulate it through my meridians. It''s as if the Heavenly Energy has a mind of it''s own. I get entranced by the warm stream circulating in my body and just let got of my thoughs. Time passes as a river; leaving nothing behind but history. Qi Gathering 6th Stage achieved. Qi Gatherign 5th Stage skipped due to Heaven''s Aid. Life and Death (Lyras POV) He came here suddenly, like a spring breeze. His amber eyes as fierce as a tiger''s, but deep within lies a childish mind filled with curiosity and excitement. This was the first time I''ve been able to read someone so well. When he said his name my eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Like, he''s the son of Robertson Hawkins! The one who exterminated an entire army with his sword, all by himself. When Richard proposed a duel to him I thought he would at least leave with some bruises. However, against my expectations, he fighted beautifully. His sword seemed to have a soul, harmoniously fusing with his preliminary sword intent and footwork. He probably hasn''t even realized he used sword intent in that fight, otherwise with Richard suppressing his Cultivation Realm to the Qi Gathering 4th stage Andrew could have won. And after we "invited" him to go to the market with us his eyes seemed to glitter, but started burning when we started to make him carry stuff. But he didn''t do anything about it, just endured it silently. When I seduced the vendors the look on his face was amusing, a mix of disbelief and terror. Like he was thinking ''I thought you were a saintess!''. Well, at least that''s what I want to think. But he only became more interesting when he started running all of a sudden. I was pretty pissed at him from dropping the jewelry I earned with my blood, sweat and tears, but was more intrigued by why he run away. ''He couldn''t be trying to escape from us right?'' was what I thought for a second, just a second. We started to follow him, everything was going great until he suddenly charged at a wall and disappeared. We stood in front of the wall for a solid three minutes looking at each other''s bewildered faces before we walked through. Our bodies went through easily, but our minds shook a bit. Probably not used to traveling inside walls... We started searching Andrew on these alleys we hadn''t seen before, if they even existed. Finally finding him in the last one possible. He was looking at the ground with an incredulous expression and mumbling about how the door had disappeared or something like that.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Richard started cursing right after seeing him, me and Doug joining in after. The new boy''s face shifted between curiosity and bewilderment while we sweared. Like he wasn''t even listening, trapped in his own mind. He only reacted after I talked about the magic wall, to which his expression changed to a even more surprised one. We looked at him like he was an idiot until he started to tell his story about a boy who tugged his pants and an old man who happens to be a formation master. I looked at Richard and Doug and they appeared to have the same thoughts as me. The old man was a formation grandmaster. And Andrew passed some kind of test, earning the old man''s appreciation towards his talent. We didn''t bother to explain this to him and planned to return to the Academy, but he insisted we had to buy him a gift. Richard, Doug and I had some savings, so we figured it was alright to give him something worthy of the Heir of Hawkins. The battle armor was a expensive one, but when Andrew saw it his eyes burned like light stones in the dark, we took pity on him and bought it. We even dispensed him from carrying our stuff as we went back to the Academy. He followed us to our first class in the morning, Introduction to Herbs. Richard and I hate this class, it''s just one entire hour of looking at a board with drawings of plants and the teacher saying it''s charactheristics although Doug doesn''t like it or deslike it. The three of us fell asleep after the first ten minutes, only waking up when Mr. Thompson hit us with his book with a dissapointed face. However, Andrew seemed to have really enjoyed the class. Strange guy. We were walking to the dorms, the wind blowing softly by our ears and the sun burning the top of our heads. Andrew was walking absent mindly, I think he didn''t even knew we were behind him. The wind didn''t stop, it only became stronger with time; forming a vortex around Andrew. I looked at Richard and Doug, the only two people of our age who knew what this phenomenon meant and had experienced it. Until now. The Heavenly Energy was so concentrated around him I became a little breathless; the concentration was many times higher than when I experienced it. I could see by Richard''s and Doug''s complexions that it was the same with them. Even space around him became a little distorted. The trees nearby seemed to bloom into flowers and wither at the same time, like their lives were united to Andrew''s breathing; alternating between spring and winter with his every inhale and exhale. The leaves of the trees fluctuating between red and green, almost like they''re dancing. Life and Death are only halves of one; like Yin and Yang. Not opposing each other, but complementing one another; the Wood of Life and Ashes of Death. I heard the Heavens whispering to me, "Have you made your choice?", to which I softly yet firmly replied, "I don''t fear the hardships of Life nor the sorrows of Death; why should I fear the future?" The Heavens answered me with their blessing... Life-bound Sword I slowly open my eyes and see Richard and Doggy, both with a weird yet annoyed expression. I don''t even give them a additional glance. There''s something much more interesting next to me. Trees withering, flowers blooming. Contrary yet complementary to each other. The sunlight illuminating the center of this beautiful painting, Lyra, the Goddess of Life and Death. The Heavenly Energy forming a vortex around her, like mine but less concentrated. However it has a strange aura, like I''m bound to the ground I''m sitting with my eyes glued to her image because of it. Truly like admiring a painting. The vortex doesn''t looks like it''s stopping any time soon, so I ask Richard - who I had no idea was near me - what happened while I enlightened myself on the Water Laws. "Are you an idiot? Or perhaps just ignorant?" His response surprised me, more than his annoyed expression from before. But he doesn''t give me time to react before he continued, this time with a less irritated face. "First you should know what the enlightenment you experienced means. The first time the Heavens bless someone is called Heavens'' Aid, that''s what happened to you. However, the second time is somewhat different. It''s called One with the Heavens" he takes a little pause to look at Lyra and then continues, "This phenomenon is the prove you''re a Heavenly Child; you''re someone who can carry the Heavens." ''You''re someone who can carry the Heavens'', nothing more than a fool''s dream, at least in my previous life; it won''t be a dream in this one though. Richard doesn''t seem willing to speak any more, so I just check my status in the System. Nothing changed, besides my Cultivation Realm and Occupation, respectively Qi Gathering 6th Stage and Student of Seven Elements Academy. However, the Skills section has a great change. Six Swords Water Dance 1st Stage. For the first time I instictively know what this "new" skill is, emphasis on the scare quotes. This is the congregation of my understandings towards the Myriad Waters Sword Technique, more specifically speaking, my insights regarding the Laws that govern the Technique. However, I notice another big change among the few skills I have. Sword Mastery Lv. 4 (Preliminary Sword Intent) Sword Intent, the first step on the real Sword Dao. Often called Sword Laws by people who don''t practice, but for those who follow this path, it''s a way to live by. It''s the whole congregation of a person''s understanding of the Sword Dao; the way that person sees the Sword. It also means that you''re a real expert of the sword, even if it''s only in it''s preliminary form. Sword Intent has many uses but the primary one is using ranged strikes without spending Qi as Sword Intent acts as an magnet for Heavenly Energy, making it possible to use it for many uses. It can also be used in a similar way to Will to givepurpose to Heavenly Energy. I could think about a hundred other uses for Sword Intent, but I decided to think about something else. Why hasn''t anyone come see this disturbance?The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I look around focusing Qi in my eyes and giving thepurposeofsee through,a thing only possible because ofMind of a Sage.I quickly spot some strange marks and runes and line, all united in a single existence in the form of a dome around Lyra. I haven''t read the books the old man gave me yet, but I''m pretty sure this is a formation. Probably something useful for supressing auras; possibly making illusions too. The structure of each rune has a strange yet pleasant aesthetic with sharp breaks in the lines but also curved ones. It reminds me a bit of the carvings on the Willow Tree Manor''s outer walls. Maybe there''s some kind of formation there for defending the manor? I quickly push those thoughts away as I take the opportunity to sit and meditate, stabilising my Will and circulating my Qi; it''s not always you have such an perfect ambient to meditate. Richard and Doggy have long been meditating on the ground. Like this, we spent one hour meditating before Lyra''s enlightenment phenomenon ended.
This grandson of mine is quite interesting. It''s been barely four hours and so much has happened to him. Meeting that stinky guy, Tadrick, and his cute little disciple, Lenus. Getting enlightened, not once, but two times. Dueling with the second best fighter among the first year students, and even almost winning. Spiritual Perception is truly an amazing thing to use to spy on people. Time to show myself to these brats, the phenomenon is almost ending. "Come with me Robbie." he just responds to me with a nod. Always so unwilling to show himself...
As I open my open my eyes I see a weird scene. Dad, Grandpa and godforsaken Lyra who lost her sanity after seeing my father. Her eyes burn with excitement, like she didn''t experience something much more wonderful moments ago; she''s adoring Dad like he''s some sort of saint. I hear her talking about Dad''s time in the military, when he still was part of the younger generation of the Empire. I don''t know exactly what were his accomplishments in the military, but I once heard a conversation from the servants talking about him as an one-man army. A thing to be especially proud of among cultivators. However, the adoration the servants had was nowhere near Lyra''s. She''s a completely different person when she''s talking to or about my father. I don know when or how those two appeared here, but I presume they''ve been watching us for a while. I''ve been having this uncomfortable feeling of being observed since I arrived in the Academy in the morning. Richard and Doggy are respectfully standing by the side, listening with great interest to their talk, if it can be called that as it''s basically Lyra praising my father and he awkwardly laughing... I join them and listen to their "talk". Before long I got bored and interrupted their conversation which had slowly shifted to Grandpa, the Academy''s most important man, who had been previously neglected by Lyra, "So, Dad, why are you here with Grandpa?" He doesn''t even bother to say anything first and just flickes my forehead at the speed of light, only after I cry in pain he says, "Don''t you want this old man to be close to your new friends? You''ve only known each other for a few hours and you''re already shutting out this old man of your life..." as he says this he''s fake crying... I can only try my best not to lose face and say, "I''m sorry Dad," I try to put on my best guilty face but I think I don''t think I did a good job at it as Dad just says, "Alright, alright. Just stop doing... well, that." I still ended up losing face, but I at least got some good laughs from everyone. Yeah, that''s a good thing. Right? Dad interrupts my self mocking session as he reaches for the scabbard he''s wearing by his belt and hands it to me saying, "This is your welcome gift, treasure it as your own life." His serious expression makes me take a additional glance at it. A shade of blue resembling the midnight sky painted with myriad stars, there are no carvings in it, but it doesn''t make any difference to it''s elegance; there''s beauty in simplicity. However the System''s notification makes me even more mesmerized by the sword. Life-bound Sword detected, do you wish to bind it now? I mentally say yes and instantly I feel a connection between me and the sword forming itself. It makes sense what Dad said, this sword became a part of my life, my very soul is connect to it. This feeling is weird, but also comfortable; like reuniting with a lover. I let myself enjoy it for a short moment, free of worries, before I thank my father, "Thank you," I take a short pause and continue, "for everything you''ve done for me." He just puts on his usual smile and brushs this topic off as Richard, Doggy and I go back to the dorms without Lyra, who shamelessly insisted to continue chatting with Dad... Sixth Sword Stance and Formations Lower the sword to the ground, dripping with Water-Qi, imagine a dragon, as tall as a mountain, as powerful as gods, rising amidst the water, seeking the heavens. Let it out, all in a single instant, to cover the skies. Myriad Waters Sword Technique Sixth Stance, Rising Dragon! A long jet of water quickly leaves my sword and whistles through the air. Although not as quickly as Infinite Rain, it''s much more powerful. Easily exemplified by the training dummy the "dragon" destroyed. I wish I was more powerful so I could really make a water dragon, and not this snake like jet of water. This was my first time practicing with the sword Dad gifted me yesterday. It''s much easier to conduct Qi through it, almost as easy as doing it with my own limbs. This conductivity made it possible for me to use the Sixth Stance, which I had never done before, though I still can use the Fourth and Fifth ones. I had only been able to perform the three first stances until now, Infinite Rain, Unstoppable River, and Dispersing Waves. Yesterday after I returned to the dorms with Richard and Doggy I didn''t went out anymore, I only meditated until night before I slept. I took a break for myself after so many thing happened in a short amount of time. Be it in this life or my past one, this amount of change would be too much for anyone. Two months ago I was incredibly sick, with a disease no one knew something about. However, now I''m a cultivator of the Qi Gathering 6th Stage, in one of the top Academies of the Empire, surrounded by strong and/or talented people. I sigh as I once more realize that thinking about things I already know are not worthy of my time. Today there isn''t any classes I''m interested on, I already checked with Richard the classes schedules. I go back to my room and look for the books the old man gifted me. They''re all piled up on the corner of my study table, which is by the side of the bookshelf. I sit down and start reading seriously each word contained on the first book of the pile, Introduction to Formations. It''s name couldn''t be simpler, but it''s content is extraordinary. The first sentence of the book reads, "All of you who seeks the Heavens and Earth, create your own through formations!". These word carry an infinite amount of arrogance, but it lives no space for retorts. It''s like they are the absolute truth of the world. Inspired by the grandiose words I carefully read the whole book in the morning. It wasn''t difficult as I''ve always read fast and I''ve become even faster after I got Reading Comprehension, which leveled up once in this session, making to Lv. 8. The book wasn''t very thick, but it''s content was concise. It perfectly introduced what they are, what they do, and how they do it. The title couldn''t be more self-explanatory. Formations, as the book says, are nothing more than a combination of lines following certain rules, or Laws, with the purpose of changing, improving, destroying or creating something. The book doesn''t go really deep into how it works, but I assume the other ones will have a lot more information on that. I woke up at the sunrise, practiced the Burning Skies Yang Fire Technique and then did sword training, so it''s been roughly six hours since I woke judging by the position of the sun. I should go eat something now. I had some trouble with measuring time for a while before I learned how to read the sun''s position, I really miss watches... I put the book aside and go out of the room to eat lunch at the dinner room, one of the few advantages of the this dormitory, same about the private servants and cooks.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. After I finished eating I went to look for Richard for a rematch, however he wasn''t in his room nor training at the courtyard. However, I found Lyra. Thinking about it now, I didn''t fight with her before. With this thought in mind I asked her for a match, which she quickly agreed. She''s probably eager to test her abilities after the Heavens'' Blessing. I was really looking forward to battling her, imagining what her battle style would be. But I''ve never been more disappointed. Her battle style consisted of trying to tie me down with the vines she made with Qi and shooting arrows whevener I slowed down. Like this, the battle became an endurance competition, both of Qi and Will, which she used to make and control the vines, respectively. In the battle of Will, I obviously would have won as I''m already at the Second Realm. However, in the Qi battle, I lost absurdly fast. I needed to use Qi to cut the vines she created, but even with the Preliminary Sword Intent decreasing my usage of Qi I still couldn''t compare to her in sheer Qi Pool size. She created the vines incredibly fast and in large amounts, but still managed to control them adeptly while shooting arrows with her bow from time to time. Her Will Cultivation Realm mustn''t be behind mine by much if she can multitask this well. The only possible method to win against her is to overpower her with pure power or speed. If you try to do a balanced fight you''ll only get caught in a quagmire. There''s only one Technique I have capable of making me win against her in the future, that''s the Burning Skies Yang Fire Technique. It''s currently on Lv. 3 and only increases my vitality and physical prowess a bit. However, the fourth level is a turning point. The fourth level allows you to do two things, to strengthen your life source and change it to a yang-aligned life source, and to give the ability to use the energy store by the Technique the same way you use Qi, but with much more explosive power. With my heart full of bitterness because of being played by Lyra I go to the courtyard and start training. It''s currently one of the best periods to practice as the sun is high in the sky, so it''ll much easier and efficient to absorb the yang fire, also called sunlight essence by the traditional cultivators in the past. I practice for two hours before I start to feel bloated, this is a sign to stop practicing or else my body won''t be able to handle the energy. Stopping after this point is a must, you''ll start to feel like your insides are boiling if you continue. It wasn''t fun to experience it the first time I practiced the Technique... I''m not at the peak of the third level yet, so it''s not possible to break through now. However, it seems that after my enlightenment I can gather the sunlight essence for more time than before, like my body''s become more receptive towards energy. I think I''ll be able to break through to the fourth level in a week and a half if I go by my current rate of absorption. Already inside of my room, I start circulating my Qi, while also absorbing Heavenly Energy, to grind the barrier which traps my realm. This process was tedious before, but it now gives a strange sense of accomplishment and progress. Just like my cultivation of the Burning Skies Yang Fire Technique, my cultivation base is not at it''s peak. Therefore, I can only grind slowly, making it easier for my breakthrough in the future. I continue cultivating until nightfall. There''s a cool breeze coming from the window, the light stones in the room illuminate the room in a warm light. I for the second time in the day open the books in my study table and start reading. However, this time I''m reading some books with more tangible content, "Twelve Formations for Beginners" and "Miniature Formations; Talismans". These book cover only the most basic formations and talismans, but they are still not something I, who only read a little about them, can use. But more surprising than anything is that the effects of some of these formations can be achieved directly by using your own Qi with the correctpurpose, same can be said about the talismans. Exemplified by the Fireball Talisman and other ones. The book also includes some basic training methods for setting up formations, like drawing the formation lines in the air with Will and Qi and trying to maintain them. I try it a few times and didn''t have much difficulty maintaining them, but I couldn''t draw the lines well enough. This could be a great training for my Qi Will Manipulation, making it level up faster than before. These two books were shorter than the first one, however I still took some time to read them carefully and it''s already completly dark. I''m a little too excited with the content of the books right now, so it would be hard to fall asleep, so I just cultivate to clear my mind before lying in bed for a good night of sleep. Thunder Forest Routine What keeps us in the right track, preventing us from straying from the path we want to walk on. Since I''ve started reading the books the old man gave me I''ve been basicaally in a cycle of training, reading, eating, training eating, repeat. The only exception being when I spar with the people here in the dorms or when Grandpa teaches me swordsmanship. When I was a student I always said I hated routine and complained about how boring it was to do the same things every day. Even if I knew, deep down, that I liked routine. I just didn''t like being stuck, without the feeling of making progress. Another reason why I liked videogames, specially RPGs. To escape this feeling I decided something. After I break throught to the fourth level of the Burning Skies Yang Fire Technique, Richard, Lyra, Doggy and I will go do some missions. Missions are only one of the few methods to earn contribution points among others, but it''s relatively easier compared to the others which made it easy for me to convince them to help me do some. Contribution points are what we use as currency in the Academy. Be it to buy pills, weapons or even get Techniques from the Academy Library, all of it takes contribution points to do. We haven''t picked a mission yet, but we''ve already agreed it would be better to pick a hunting mission so I can get some experience in fighting beasts. They''ve been really helpful, be it by giving advice on our spars or by simply being understanding towards me and my almost non-existent common sense about society in general; you can''t get to know everything just by reading books for a couple of days. A week quickly passes by and I broke through to the fourth level of the Burning Skies Yang Fire Technique and we go choose a mission to do at the Mission Hall. The building in which the Mission Hall is situated is not the biggest, but it''s surely one of the most crowded places in this humongous Academy. There are a good amount of lines of people waiting to get assign a mission as you can''t choose an specific one and get done with it, you can only tell the worker at the Mission Hall the category of mission you want to do and the level of difficulty. Even with all the crowd in the hall, Lyra somehow managed to bypass everyone in the lines and the atendant handed her the mission paper. Bring five (5) inner cores of the five elements: water, earth, fire, wind and metal. Inner cores have similar functions to a human''s Dantian in the body of a beast, however differently from humans, Inner cores are completely physical, instead of partially spiritual as a human''s Dantian. This difference makes beasts'' bodies incredibly resistant and powerful, but their ability to store energy in a concentrated form is weakened in return. The only place we can encounter beasts of all the five elements is the Thunder Forest, a massive forest spanning several empires. It''s almost a sure death for us in the inner zones of the forest, but it should be all right to go in the outer parts to hunt beasts'' cores. Going back from the Mission Hall I separate from them and go to the Willow Tree Manor. Dad, as always, is calmly sipping his tea as a noble lady would. He speaks to me with a smile, "Came here for your ring right? You only come here for things like this." "I''m sorry...", this is the only thing I can say. His smile is a little melancholic, but how he tries to make it seem like his usual smile only makes me sadder. "It''s alright, after a few weeks you won''t be able to escape me anyway. Here''s the spatial ring you wanted."If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He hands me a simple ring, apparently made of some type of stone with strange carvings on it, but they''re not even similar to formation lines. I asked him for a spatial ring when I first decided to go on a mission, but he said he only had his, so it took a while for him to get a suitable one for me. Most spatial rings are glamorously decorated as they are items many nobles try to show off as these rings are really damm expensive. I spend the rest of the afternoon with Dad, I''m going away for a while, I should at least do this much for him. The next day I''m at the gates of the city together with my group. Dad already put everything I need in the spatial ring, which has a massive space by the way, about the size of the arena I sparred with Richard on my first day, but three-dimensional. We''re all equipped with clothes and armors suited for battle, differently from our spars where we fought with regular training clothes. This will be the first test for my armor, I''m pretty excited about this trip. "You''re pretty late." Lyra says with a snort to which I respond with my own snort, "You''re just too early." Her facade fells as she laughs at me and says, "Just joking. But you''re right, we got here pretty early." The sun just rised and even the cows haven''t woken up yet. We have to get going if we want to get to the forest by tomorrow. Even if our mission doesn''t have a time limit we still want to do it as fast as possible. Richard and Doggy already entered the carriage which is quite similar to the one Dad and I used to get to the city before, but much more luxuous. I don''t know if it''s better though. Both Lyra and I enter the spacious inside of the carriage excited with our first time going to the Thunder Forest. Richard and Doggy already went there once with their parents, so they''re going to lead us and explain things for us who haven''t gone there before. The carriage seems to work the same as the other one I rode before as Lyra started it from the inside just as my Dad did. The speed is about the same, but this one is much more comfortable and stable. The forest isn''t too far off considering our speed, but there''s enough time for Richard and Doggy to tell us about the forest. Hours quickly passed by with our chit-chat and cultivation, eating the food we brought in between the two and taking turns sleeping so someone can look at the road. We arrived the next morning on the settlement outside of the forest. This settlement was made specifically for people like us, who want to profit from this dangerous yet incredibly rich area in opportunities. There are a few inns here, almost all of them are full, but those which aren''t, are the luxury ones that are almost close to a hotel. All types of people are trading on the small trading center organized by the adventurers. We looked around a bit but nothing caught our eyes so we got back to the inn we rented before going to the market, one of the best ones at that. It''s price was a little higher than the others because this one had separate rooms, one thing needed as we didn''t want Lyra to be uncomfortable. I entered my room and just slept, a lot. I only woke up when they called me to begin our mission in the forest. I guess I was really tired to be able to sleep like this. I quickly put my battle armor and got together with them at the one of the common entries of the Thunder Forest. The trees are variate in size, but they seem to be from the same family. There''s a deep mist permeating the entire area, impossibilitating us from seeing more than ten or so meter ahead of us. Thankfully, Richard brought some tokens we can bind to sense each others position. Having a experienced guy around helps a lot. We look at each other and enter the forest. The ground is a little charred, but the vegetation flourishes. The trees aren''t crowded together, making some natural paths for us to walk by, but making us susceptible to ambushs from the beasts we''re hunting. Since we''ve entered our eyes have been enhaced by Qi, so seeing through the mist isn''t difficult. However there are some beast here who are great predators in this environment, being able to camuflate themselves perfectly in the mist and vegetation. Richard is walking at the south position, I''m at the north-east, Doggy''s at the north-west and Lyra is in the center. Richard''s position allow him to quickly see every thing in front of us, including our only long-range fighter, Lyra, a perfect position for the leader of the group, a position Doggy pushed him into. His trust in Richard is apparently great. We walked for hours without seeing anything or anyone. We haven''t even heard a living being''s noise. This is bizarre, as Richard said that although the outer parts of the forest aren''t densely populated by beasts, there are more than enough for us to encounter in these hours we were walking. This is giving me a bad feeling, I only hope this feeling is wrong... Battle in the clearing The mist thickens as we walk through the forest. The danger feeling keeps tingling my scalp. I can see the others are also feeling something uncomfortable, but nobody says anything. The smell of burned wood permeates the area and Richard says, "We got a really shit luck." We immediately understand what is happening. This is the worst possible circumstance, the thunder ponds, which gives the forest its name, are in an active state. This is what''s burned the ground and some trees which are more susceptible to lightning. "We should find a cave, the beasts are going to hide for a while." we all agree with Richard''s idea, but finding a cave with the mist blocking our line of sight is going to be hard. Therefore, we settle with the next best thing. In the forest, there are a few clearings, but there''s a catch. The clearings are formed by carnivorous plants, camouflaging themselves with their burned black color, trying to eat us whole. If it wasn''t for Richard and Doggy this could very well kill us. The both of them quickly cut the plants hiding on the ground and dispose of them. Those things are huge, probably just as deadly as their size implies. Every part of them has spear-like thorns, I''m almost certain there''s poison coating. These things are really creepy, they move as if they''re intelligent beings, even if Richard says they are not. Lyra takes a simple Aura Hiding talisman from her new spatial ring, which I''m almost certain she didn''t take with her when we went shopping just to have an excuse to torture me. She places it in the center of the clearing''s ground and activates it with her Qi. "This should be enough for now, the beast shouldn''t have a better time seeing through the mist than us." we aren''t really sure about that, but nobody says otherwise and she continues speaking, "Who''s going to watch out for us first?" We look at each other and Doggy says, "I''ll go first, just relax for a while." How naive of us. Just as we sat down to cultivate we saw it. Dark, incredibly deep, eyes, preying on us. Jet black fur, it''s gigantic mouth open to let us see it''s saliva dripping down from its teeth and hear it''s rough breathing anticipating a big meal. My body stiffens, refusing to get up, but I need to get up. I''m trembling from head to toe, yet I slowly get up, incentivized by the beast walking towards me. "Doug, walls," Richard says in a whisper like order, "now." Walls quickly rise and surround the beast. However, I don''t think they are going to last long, the wolf-like creature should be just as powerful as it is big. But this should give us enough time to get in our battle formation. Everyone''s already moving to form a concave formation, protecting Lyra behind us who already is spreading vines and root around the clearing. I take my sword from my scabbard and move it around, getting a feel for it before the battle. Richard and Doggy already have their weapons tight in their hands, only waiting for the moment it breaks the walls. We wait, for what seemed like hours, the beast doesn''t stop breathing roughly, but now it has an annoyed tone to it. The sound resonates with our tingling scalps, only adding to the tension. It starts banging the walls with its body and not long after, he destroys them. I ignite the Yang Energy in my body, hoping I can keep up with the wolf''s attack speed. We were not going to wait for him to come here and slaughterus. Lyra is already trying to trap the creature with her vines and roots while aiming with her bow. Richard, Doggy and I run towards the wolf wanting to finish this the fastest we can, there''s no way in hell we''ll be able to win an endurance battle with it. Unfortunately, the beast got rid of it''s binds just before we hack it down. It sweeps with its paw towards me, which I use Dispersing Waves to block. I successfully mitigate the force using the defensive capabilities of this Stance, but my arms are numb because of the sheer strength of the strike. The wolf tries to attack me again when I lost my momentum. However, Richard blocks the strike and counters with a thrust.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. His thrust only barely touched the wolf''s right cheek, drawing a bit of blood. However, this gave enough space for Doggy, who was deemed as the least threatening by the beast, to bash its nose with his pole, leaving it disoriented. Lyra, who had been aiming since the start of the fight, fired her first arrow, which met the beast''s eye. Blood spurts and dyes our armors in crimson red. Her archery is even better than I remember, she must have held back in our spar. With its new handicap, the wolf seems a little dazed but still stands firmly on the ground. The bloody eye makes the bloodthirsty aura around it thicker, almost perceptible to the eye. We took a few steps back, so Lyra can use her vines freely. She once again binds the wolf with her vines, also preparing to shoot another arrow at it. The vines feel a little different this time, their aura is almost in an opposite spectrum from the life-filled ones she normally uses in our spars. It''s quite comforting knowing I can trust her to do all these things. Like trusting she will hit the wolf and not me with her arrows. Even if she might hit me on purpose with Qi arrows sometimes when we spar, just for the sake of it. The wolf''s painful roar quickly ends my trance and puts my mind back into the battle. Futile. Does it think we''ll be scared by this roar? Maybe in the beginning, but now we''ve already understood. Or it''s the wolf or it''s us, only one will live. With its body bound by the vines, which seem to drain its vitality, we can just strike as we please. Richard lowers his guan dao and shoots several wind blades in a motion I''m familiar with, cutting the beast''s flesh. However, it also cut most of the vines binding it, letting it regain its mobility. But not for long. His guan dao dances in the air ferociously,the mist outside the barrier diminishes as it''s dragged to the guan dao''s blade, forming tempest clouds filled with lightning around it. His movement suddenly speeds up, forming a vortex of tempest clouds. Finally, the lightning condensed in the clouds is released in a long thrust like the guan dao is going to fly together with the lightning bolt. It hits the wolf in a flash and stuns it, also burning its fur greatly. It gives me an opportunity to use my most powerful Stance, the Rising Dragon. I circulate my Qi the fastest I can and form a layer of Water-Qi on my sword. My Sword Intent shapes the Qi together with my Will, making it stronger and sharper than ever. I lower my weapon to the ground and inhale deeply. Concentrating all I can, I release the strike. A jet of water cuts through the air, like a dragon flying in the sky unhindered. The snake-like water dragon torns its neck brutally. Small pieces of flesh and fur fall, blood paints the surroundings and its body as it roars loudly while struggling to remove the remaining vines of its massive body, almost deafening us. "Finish it!" Richard screams almost as loudly as the wolf. Instantly, a spike rises from the ground and impales the wolf through its chest. It''s entire body soaked in blood, a spike through its body, burned chunks of skin, eyes bloody, be it by actual wounds or not. All these injuries but its steps don''t falter. We thought it would be over when the spike pierced its body, but like a candle in the wind, its body started burning like hellfire. The flames seem to have a life of its own, flying towards us like bullets of light. We protect ourselves however we can, be it by blocking or dodging the bullets. However, we couldn''t avoid being hit by the bullets anyway. This fire can corrode our Qi and burn through our skin, reaching even our bones. Possibly even reaching our internal organs if it isn''t extinguished. Thankfully, Lyra quickly used an advanced dispelling technique, one of the multiple variations of healing techniques, to extinguish the flames before it corroded our arms to the bone. However, it still managed to completely destroy our skins where it landed. Lyra used her enormous amounts of Qi to heal our wounds entirely in a matter of seconds. A truly powerful ability, even I couldn''t heal myself like that using Qi with the purpose of healing. I lie down for a while, trying to regulate my hasty breath and heartbeat, a side effect from using the Yang Energy while being out of shape. Those years of no exercise were not very for my muscles. The others are much better than me, only panting a little. I know for sure the wolf is dead. That last attack seemed to use its own vitality as fuel to the fire. It would have been more successful if it had been used in the beginning, as it wouldn''t have lost so muchblood and vitality. It should have been able to use it at least two times. I can only thank the gods for this beast being dumb and arrogant to think it could defeat us without using its innate ability. Richard suddenly gets up and says, "Let''s get out of here now. If this thing can find us, other ones can as well." We immediately stand up, Lyra not forgetting to store the wolf''s inner core in her spatial ring. We don''t know where we''ll go after this battle, resting is not on our list of possible things to do after we got immediately attacked after relaxing just a bit. Therefore, we got decide to go back to the settlement with a fifth of our mission completed, the first of our group.