The days turn to weeks in this way. Slowly, Will finds himself getting faster, stronger and more skilled at fighting. He’s still never come close to landing a hit on his master, but he no longer feels like he’s floundering.
It’s just at this point that his master decides to change things up. Because of course it is.
One morning, after Will has come back home from his morning spent cultivating on the stump, he places himself before his master wondering what the medium sized burlap sack that his master has in one hand is for.
Will also wonders to himself when exactly he started thinking of this place as home. Was it when he realized he would not go hungry anymore? Sure his master has him catch and cook the food half the time, but he still never goes hungry. Was it when he knew he’d wake up warm and dry every day and not dread the day ahead? Was it when he realized he could depend on and trust his master? Or that his master never walked away from him to spend his time getting lost in an alcohol clouded mind?
He’s not sure. But somewhere along the way, sometime when the routine of his training started to set in, this place started to feel like home.
His master didn’t leave him to his thoughts long. “You’ve progressed enough in your hand to hand fighting that I feel like you’re able to now handle weapons training. After today, the morning will be hand to hand, and after lunch will be weapons training. For today though, we’ll spend all day on weapons training. One of the main reasons being because I would like to see which one you gravitate towards, and also because it’s important to spend extra time on something when it’s the first time doing anything new.”
“Makes sense to me.”
“We’ll start with the most common first, and then go from there. As I mentioned when I first brought you here, I expect at least satisfactory competency at every weapon I have you train with. I want you to be as skilled as possible in at least two of them though.”
“Yes sir.” Will considers himself clumsy so he doubts he’ll become proficient in any of them. In fact, a rating of simply being bad instead of horrible would be enough for him. Not to mention that his master’s idea of satisfactory is probably near expert level to anyone else. But there’s nothing else to do but try as hard as he can. It’s the least he can do to for all his master has done for him.
His master lifts up the burlap sack and sticks his entire arm in. Will stands amazed as he watches his master delve farther into the bag then physics should allow him to go.
“Master….is that a spatial bag?”
“Hm? Oh yes. Old thing. Got it years ago and keep it around for storage.”
He says it so off handily that Will’s not sure if it was intentional or if maybe his master has forgotten that Will is not from this world and that a spatial bag is not at all normal. He’s only seen them in tv shows. To think they actually exist.
His master finally seems to have found what he was looking for and starts to bring out the first weapon.
First comes the sword. His master tells him it’s a hand and a half sword, and runs him through some basic motions and surprisingly it doesn’t feel to awkward in his hands. Not natural by any means, but not a bad feeling. After that his master has him try a spear, a short spear, double long knives, a halberd, a mace, an axe, a long sword, a katana, a poleax, and finally a bow.
His favorite quickly becomes the double long knives. They’re the perfect weight, deadly, just long enough at a foot and a half long to give sufficient reach, and don’t impede his movements at all. In Will’s opinion, they also look awesome as well. They’re silver in color, with a slight curve to them.
A close second is the spear, although it is slightly unwieldy at first. Will was under the impression that all a spear is good for is to stab someone from distance. And while that is certainly something it excels at, it is far from its only function when used properly.
Amos shows how it can be spun to gain momentum, and how, if someone is fast and strong enough to handle the weapon, it can be used to a devastating effect. Especially when paired with the lightning element.
Amos also mentions that it pairs well with Will’s style of fighting by feeling out his opponent before engaging. And when he does engage, trying to create openings using quick penetrating attacks.
After spending an entire day getting familiar with all of the weapons, Amos and Will agree that the long knives will be Will’s primary weapon, but that he will use the spear as his initial weapon in confrontations. This is for several reasons. It pairs well with how Will likes to begin a fight, and it can also be used non lethally if the occasion calls for it because of how it can also be partly as a staff.
As the weeks go by, Will becomes more and more skilled with the spear and knives. He still practices with the others, but Amos has him focus on his strengths for a while.
Will also comes to find that he’s decently skilled at using a bow and a hand and a half sword. It’s just preference that keeps him away from the weapons.
Three more months go by like this. Awake and at the stump cultivating by dawn. Hand to hand fighting in the morning, then lunch, then weapons training. Then running and weight lifting for two hours. And finally, meditating on either the roll of Qi in the universe or on an element that Will hasn’t been taught how to use yet.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Will falls into the work with a passion. He finds that he genuinely enjoys fighting. Not hurting people, but just the effort in the training and the growing skill that comes with the consistent work. He still doesn’t think he’s any good, but it’s hard to get a feel for it when his only comparison is Amos.
On the morning of his fifth month at the cabin, three months since he started weapons training, something happens.
He’s sitting on the stump cultivating like he does every morning when his core, which he felt had been slowly getting bigger inside of him grow to a point where he felt it was about to burst.
Will stays calm as best he can. If there was something dangerous about cultivating that he had to be made aware of Amos would have told him.
Trusting in his master and praying Amos didn’t simply forget to mention something, Will continues to cultivate. His core gets bigger and bigger. It’s not so much pain that he’s feeling as it is an extreme pressure. The feeling is focused at his mid section but he can feel it in every cell in his body.
The pressure grows and grows until finally, when Will thinks he can take it no longer, his core suddenly contracts to a fifth of its previous size. As that happens Will feels power surge through him. With an extreme effort of Will he manages to continue cultivating and cycling his Qi, keeping his mind calm and his breathing even as the power rampages through his body. It feels like a stampede rushing through him, his power trying to rip from his control. He’s not sure what the result will be if that were to happen but he’s not willing to find out.
He keeps meditating, his control strong and his will iron. After five minutes or so, the power inside him settles. It feels like it settles into his bones, into his muscles, into his very cells.
He takes a deep breath in through his nose, and then slows releases it out through his mouth as whatever just happened completes.
Will finally stops cultivating and cycling his Qi.
A small rush of Qi and wind expand out from him in a sphere as the process finishes. A shockwave of power, announcing Will’s ascension.
“Welcome to the Spirit Realm.”
Will’s eyes bolt open and he looks at his master calmly standing in front of him.
“No disrespect is meant by this sir but…you could have warned me about the violence of getting to the next realm. I almost lost control.”
“Almost lost control? What do you mean? Explain what happened.”
So Will tried to articulate as detailed as he could what he felt during his progression from the core realm to the spirit realm.
“Hmm. I’m sorry Will. I didn’t warn you because that’s not how ascending to the next level is supposed to be. What you described is abnormal. A typical ascension is supposed to be just a condensing of your core and an increase in your over all power. Each ascension grants you other benefits as well but that’s not relevant to this.”
Amos appears to be deep in thought so Will almost doesn’t ask, but his curiosity refuses to be held back. “What do you think it means sir?”
Despite looking like his mind is working over time to try and figure something out Amos answers.
“I’m not sure. It could be because you’re not native to this land so your body is different enough where cultivating is a more violent process…but I don’t think that’s it.” Will is about to open his mouth to ask the next obvious question but Amos cuts him off. “I have a theory, but I don’t want to share it until I’ve had time to think it over Will. We’ll talk about it again later when I’m more sure.”
Will’s a little disappointed but he has other questions to ask so he guesses he can wait for the answer. “So, master, what other benefits does the spirit realm hold?”
“The spirit realm, is where you’ll be able to start training in your element. We haven’t done it yet because the spirit in the core realm is simply too weak to handle the power that comes from harnessing Qi in the form of elemental power. If you had tried, your spirit would have been ripped apart and you’d have died. Even testing yourself to see what your attunement is can be dangerous, but due to your age I didn’t see much harm in it.”
The excitement that Will felt was so immense he felt like he was bursting at the seems with it. His eyes brightened and widened, his smile stretched across his entire face, and he bolted to a standing position on top of the stump.
“Can we go train right now master?!”
“Impatient. Young people these days have no sense of forbearance.”
Will keeps his excited eyes fixed on Amos. His body language hoping for a yes but his mouth too nervous to ask again.
Amos rolls his eyes and sighs slightly. “Yes boy. Hop down and let’s go.”
Will leaps off the stump with an intent of bolting to the cabin but instead ends up hurtling into a tree.
He gets slowly to his feet, groaning and rubbing his face. “What the heck was that?”
“As I said. No sense of restraint at all. That, boy, was your body and coordination being unused to your new strength and speed.”
“It’s that drastic of a difference?”
“Between realms? Absolutely. And the difference only increases as the realm does. While climbing in the same realm, it’s generally slow enough that you can acclimate as you grow and not be negatively affected by it.”
…
Amos observes the boy as he scrunches his nose a few times. He can only assume to test to see if it’s broken or not.
As they start to walk towards the cabin together, Amos keeps his senses focused on Will as his thoughts race.
Five months. The boy got through the core realm and to the spirit realm in five months. That kind of progress…it’s incredible, almost surreal.
And his ascension to the next realm. What could that sort of violent transition mean? Amos saw and sensed the atmosphere around Will during it. Only during ascensions in the higher realms has he seen the area so completely drained of Qi like that. And even then, only with particularly strong cultivators. For Will to have that effect on the surrounding Qi and to be able to absorb that much of it at such an early realm…
Amos searched his long memory for other situations and cultivators that might give him an idea of what to expect from the boy in the future. He’s worried that he wasn’t able to predict the issues Will had during his ascension and is determined to not fail the boy like that again in the future.
Also, he needs to think of a way to help Will get through future ascensions, ones that will undoubtably be even harsher for him.
While he does this he notices something else that astonishes him.
The boy…he’s already acclimated.
He watches the boy go through a few fighting stances and motions as he walks. Amos can visibly see his movement go from unwieldy and awkward and steadily transition to smooth and coordinated.
By the time they make it to the clearing with the cabin, it seems like Will is already in full control of himself again. He might need some sparring to get to 100%, but to have acclimated so quickly…
Amos mentally shakes his head. The surprises don’t seem to stop with Will.
