by Aaron Oster
Well, that wasn’t much of a loss for him. Roy wasn’t planning on showing this scroll to any Power cultivator more powerful than him in an attempt to cheat. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that he would be allowed to keep an item this valuable if he did, especially if the other Marital Artists figured out what it was. In the meantime, Roy had an improved technique to master.
When Aika finally returned nearly an hour and a half later, Roy had made significant progress toward his 1st Dan. Cycling through his improved technique was nearly twice as efficient, allowing him to pull vastly more Essence from the Beast Core and into himself. Add to that the fact that his capacity had increased with his advancement, and he was working nearly three times as fast as he had at 3rd Dan Yellow.
Of course, a higher cultivation level meant that more Essence was needed to advance, and each subsequent Dan would demand ever more. But that was just how it was. And, with his newer technique, he could advance nearly twice as fast, saving him weeks of effort.
“What have you been up to?” Aika asked, flopping down next to him with a sigh.
Her cheeks were slightly rosy, her hair still a bit damp, and all traces of the battle were wiped from existence. Her Core was brimming with Essence, and her wounds were completely healed. The only thing she hadn’t recovered was her Qi, which she would have to create by converting Essence.
Though, with several of the Light Beast Cores he’d gathered that already contained Qi, she could save herself a lot of time. That was why higher-level Cores were worth so much more than the lower ones. Since Qi demanded so much time and effort to produce, a ready source would go for nearly ten times as much as a purely Essence Core.
“Just going through the stuff I managed to grab. There were a few items I thought you might want, as well as some items I couldn’t identify.”
Aika marveled at the items, now that she wasn’t half-dead. She was impressed by the Enhancement Sleeve and agreed that it would suit her better. She wasn’t, however, able to identify either one of the Elixirs, though she did recognize the rainbow-colored Pill.
“This,” she said, holding up the Pill to eye level. “Is what’s known as the Path Pill. It’s extremely rare and exceedingly difficult to make. But, to put it plainly, this Pill will pave the Path for any Martial Artist when they begin branching off. This Pill will make it so that the first attempt that is made to use a branching Path is successful, one hundred percent of the time.”
“Is that good?” Roy asked, noting Aika’s barely suppressed glee.
“Is it good? Roy, branching off one’s main Path for the first time is insanely hard. It can take years to successfully branch off even a little. Something like this can help me get access to heat, for instance, a branching Path of Light Essence, by tomorrow, instead of when I’m in my late twenties!”
“Oh,” was all he could say.
Seeing as she was still a teenager, he could definitely see the appeal of this Pill and how valuable it truly was. There was still the question of who would get the pill. There was only one, and it seemed to him that she was under the impression that she would be the one to use it. There was a long moment of silence as Aika seemed to realize what she’d just said.
The two of them shared a look, the air suddenly seeming tense with anticipation. If Aika truly wanted the Pill, there was little he or Ferry could do to stop her. She was a Green-Belt, after all, and had strength that neither of them could hope to match. In the end, Aika lowered the Pill, dropping it back into the box and snapping the lid shut.
“Enough of that,” she said, forcing a smile onto her face, attempting to alleviate some of the tension. “We need to plan on what our next move is going to be.”
Roy stopped himself from breathing a sigh of relief and returned the smile in kind.
“I’ve been thinking about that, but I haven’t been able to come up with anything on my own. Do you have any ideas?”
“Yup,” she replied, her grin becoming genuine. “We need to follow that man and ask him to teach us!”
32
“You want us to what?” Roy asked, not sure if he’d heard her correctly.
“Follow that man and ask him to become our teacher,” she replied, seeming very sure of herself. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone as strong as that, so I’m sure he can teach us a ton!”
“Yeah. Just one problem with that,” he replied. “Did you forget that he has zero interest?”
“From what you told me, he taught you how to regain the use of your Essence after you lost it, right?”
Roy had filled her in on what had happened while they’d been cycling earlier. The two of them had taken a few short breaks in between cycling the Pills to restore their bodies, the process being too taxing to keep going for long. In that time, he’d told her everything that had happened to him, and she had recounted what happened to her in return. It seemed that as hard as it had been on him, she’d had it far worse, being tortured on a daily basis and finally having to face execution.
“Yeah, but he only taught me to get me to leave,” Roy retorted.
“Then we will just have to keep bugging him until he agrees to teach us so we’ll leave him alone,” Aika replied.
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to work,” Roy replied, rubbing at his temples.
“Oh, come on!” Aika said, somehow back to her usually excitable self, despite all that had happened. “Don’t be such a grouch. You’ll never know if you don’t try.”
Roy sighed once again as she shot to her feet, dragging him up with her. Seeing as she was monstrously strong, he didn’t even bother resisting. Ferry, who’d been dozing off, now perked up as the two of them rose, looking around eagerly.
“Fine,” Roy replied. “But we’ll have to move quickly if we want to catch him before he leaves for the night.”
It was already nearing sunset, their entire day having been wasted on recovery and lounging about. Not that they could really have done anything without first recovering from the gruesome wounds inflicted by Joan.
Aika beamed at him, then set about helping him tie all the Beast Cores onto Ferry’s back. They decided to walk. Now that they weren’t running for their lives, they didn’t want to bog Ferry down with too much weight.
Roy guided the two of them down the familiar trail, the luminescent plants growing ever brighter as the sunlight faded. It was nearing nightfall by the time they arrived at Hermit’s camp, the sky fading from a deep red to a faint purple on the horizon. It seemed that they made it just in time, as Hermit was kicking dirt over his fire, readying himself for the night of hunting instead.
“I thought you said you were going to leave me alone,” he said, not even bothering to look up from what he was doing.
Contrary to what he’d expected, Roy found that the man didn’t sound angry, merely resigned.
“Yes, well, about that…” Roy began before he was cut off by Aika.
“Hi, I’m Tonde Aika,” she said brightly. “First of all, I want to thank you for saving our lives back there.”
“There’s no need. I was simply passing by,” Hermit said, finally turning to look at them.
“Be that as it may, you still saved us,” Aika continued, not at all fazed by the man’s bluntness. “So, bearing that in mind, we would like for you to become our teacher.”
“No,” he said, flatly refusing, just as Roy had expected.
“Oh, come on, don’t be like that,” Aika coerced. “You can’t be happy living out here all alone all the time!”
“I am. Go away.”
“You can’t really mean that. Someone of your obvious power and skill can’t be content to simply walk around killing Beasts all day and night.”
“I am. Go away.”
“But you don’t actually keep anything from the Beasts, do you?” Aika continued, seemingly unfazed by Hermit’s refusal. “That means you have to be looking for something, am I right?”
Hermit let out a long sigh, then turned to leav
e the camp.
“Don’t you worry about a thing!” Aika called after him. “We’ll have a meal ready and waiting when you return!”
Another sigh was their only response before the man vanished into the woods. Aika turned to Roy then, her bright smile not diminished in the slightest.
“That went quite well, don’t you agree?”
Roy had no idea what Aika’s definition of ‘quite well’ was, but he was pretty sure the man’s continued insistence they leave was definitely anything but that. He didn’t say anything, knowing it would take far more than Hermit’s blunt refusal to dissuade or blunt her seemingly eternal optimism.
Aika went about the camp, helping herself to the man’s food and water. Roy could feel his stomach practically eating itself by this point, so after only a moment’s hesitation, he joined her. After that, with his stomach full, Roy immediately passed out, the exhaustion of the last twenty-four hours finally taking their toll.
True to her word, Aika had food prepared when Hermit returned near dawn. She’d woken Roy from his deep slumber about an hour before so he would be fresh when greeting their new “Master.”
“It wouldn’t do to make a bad impression,” she said as she bustled around the camp, getting breakfast ready.
Roy had already known the man for quite some time, and he knew that even being here would make a bad impression. The man clearly wanted to be left alone. Why else would he be living out here in one of the least hospitable places he’d ever seen? No one under Purple-Belt would even have a chance surviving out here on their own, and the only reason he’d made it was essentially be being a scavenger.
Hermit walked into the camp just as the sun was rising. The only difference between now and when he left were the few strips of bloody meat that were now hanging over one shoulder.
“I thought I told you to leave,” he said wearily as Aika practically bounced up to him, holding out a flat piece of bark with several strips of cooked meat on it.
“And I said I’d be here with a meal when you returned,” she beamed. “And I am a Martial Artist of my word.”
Hermit ignored the proffered food, instead walking around her and heading to the fire, which she’d kept burning. He spitted a few pieces of the meat on his shoulder after washing them in the stream, then stuck them to cook over the fire.
“Aww, aren’t you even going to try it?” Aika pouted. “After all, I got up early and made it just for you!”
“No. Now, for the last time, go away. I’m not interested in being your teacher.”
But Aika was persistent, to the point where Roy had to wonder if he would have the same patience as Hermit if he had someone like her bugging him.
“You would probably lose it in under an hour,” Geon snickered, watching Aika hounding the poor man.
“Probably,” he muttered, helping himself to the meat that Hermit had refused.
He wasn’t about to let a meal go to waste. He’d learned that lesson in his time living out here.
“She does have a point, though,” he continued. “Without Hermit’s help, we won’t get far out here. We might even be forced to return to The Crater, and that’s something I’d very much like to avoid.”
Hermit entered his small hut, and Aika finally left him alone, walking back toward Roy and smiling happily to herself.
“I think I’m making good progress with him. Now, how about we get in some training until he wakes up?”
Roy wasn’t opposed to that. Aside from training his Unaru Kuma, he now had a once again improved cycling technique to use. He also wanted to practice his Terrain technique, which was, as of now, without a name. He’d tried to come up with one several times but had yet to find anything that fit.
Over the next couple of hours, he sparred with Aika in the Unaru Kuma. He was finally able to pull off the more complicated maneuvers, due to the fact he could use a Movement technique, though he never managed to land so much as a single blow on her. Even when he mixed in his Exploding Fist or Void Sphere, he couldn’t so much as scratch her.
At a certain point, he began to grow aggravated with her smooth, flowing movements. She seemed to be able to avoid every single one of his strikes. She would either dodge or slap it aside. And though she was careful not to injure him, it still smarted. Finally, growing annoyed, Roy tried to use his Terrain technique on her, in an attempt to catch her by surprise.
Enough Power Essence had been generated by their fight for him to do so. When they disengaged, Roy lashed out, swiping his arm downward and forcing the Essence around him to obey his command. The line of golden Essence struck Aika in the chest, then the series of explosions sounded as several small balls of Essence compressed and expanded rapidly.
“When did you learn to do that?”
Roy jumped, feeling his heart in his throat as Aika’s voice sounded from behind him. He whirled, pulling Essence into his fists, but she merely slapped it aside, then pinned him to the ground with her Containment technique. Four half-circles made of Essence caught his wrists and ankles, digging into the ground and leaving him effectively immobile.
Roy struggled for just a few seconds, anger, and frustration at being so helpless warring against the rational part of his mind that told him this was merely training. Finally, after taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Roy looked up. Aika was still staring at him curiously, not seeming annoyed in the slightest that he’d just tried to blow her up.
“Probably because she knew you couldn’t hurt her, even if you tried,” Geon said as though reading his mind.
“I figured it out during my test,” Roy grudgingly answered.
“Really?” she asked, looking quite impressed. “You figured out that putting yourself in dangerous situations would help you, where regular training would not. Smart.”
“More like desperation,” Geon snorted, immediately crushing any false pride Roy may have been feeling.
“What did you end up calling it?” she asked, flopping to the ground next to him and releasing her technique.
“Nothing,” he admitted, sitting up and rubbing at his sore wrists and ankles.
Aika had not been gentle when pinning him down, and his joints were feeling it.
“Really? You haven’t come up with a name yet?”
“I’ve tried a few, but nothing really felt right.”
“Hmm,” Aika said, a thoughtful expression on her face. “It’s an interesting technique, very different from that old geezer’s, that’s for sure.”
“What does his technique do?” Roy asked.
“Oh, it just blows up a big area,” Aika said, waving dismissively. “But yours is far more interesting. It seems to be a series of smaller explosions, set along the line you trace in the air. Does it have to be a line, or can you warp the shape to suit your needs?”
“I…don’t know,” Roy answered.
In all truth, he hadn’t even considered anything else. In his defense, he hadn’t had much time to experiment so far.
“Well, there’s no time like the present!” Aika said, getting to her feet. “Let’s see what you can do!”
33
Three hours later, Roy collapsed onto his back, completely spent. Aika had had him repeat the technique over and over again, and when the Power Essence in the air began to dissipate, she would beat him until more formed. In his time under Aika’s tutelage, Roy learned one very important lesson- she was an absolutely merciless instructor.
He’d thought Irusaru was bad, making him run miles upon miles without enhancing himself with Essence, making him spar with Aika and working him until he dropped from exhaustion at the end of the day. And, while he’d trained with Aika alone a few times, he’d never actually been instructed by her.
Roy came to regret that decision. She first had him try to use the technique in a variety of circumstances, most of which involved him getting beaten up. Then, she’d made him do it repeatedly, trying to see how many times he could do it before faltering. After that, she’d begun to exp
eriment, seeing if he could set the series of explosions in something other than a straight line.
She had him try and make it do a wave, a circle, square, diamond, hexagon, and swirl. Each time he succeeded, she made him do it another ten times before moving onto the next. Then, while he was practicing one, she would randomly make him switch without warning and whack him with a switch every time he messed up.
It was understandable that he didn’t much feel like getting up when Aika announced that she would be making lunch.
“Wow! She really worked you over good, didn’t she?” Geon asked as he lay there, staring up at the sky and groaning softly to himself.
“Shut up,” he said, having no patience for the Dungeon’s comments.
“Hmm, she seems to have damaged your brain when she whacked you over the head. You seem to be acting rudely towards me when you’re normally so respectful.”
Roy didn’t dignify that with a response, though he did wince as the egg-sized lump on his head throbbed at the reminder. He’d caught that one when he’d tried to avoid an attack by ducking. Apparently, she’d been aiming for his ribs, but his movement had assured the injury would be far worse.
“Why are you still here?” Roy heard Hermit’s tired voice from across the clearing.
“We wouldn’t dream of leaving our teacher!” Aika’s bubbly reply came a moment later.
Groaning, Roy forced himself into a semi-upright position and watched the familiar scene playing out. Aika was bugging the living hell out of the man, and Hermit was continuously telling her to go away and leave him alone. He had to wonder how long this would keep going on, and who would crack first.
As it turned out, it was Hermit. After nearly a week of her bugging him, the man had finally had enough.
“Fine!” he snapped, cutting another one of her overly cheerful attempts at conversation. “I’ll take the two of you on…”
“Really? Wow, how truly generous of you! I knew you would eventually…!” Aika cut him off, but Hermit was having none of it this time.
