Sitting in the void which is my Natal Palace, I shut out the world at large and reflect on my training progress. Martial Warriors are kind of a big deal in the Empire, especially considering the admission process is so straightforward. All you need to do is close your eyes, reach for Balance, and draw the first wisps of Heavenly Energy into your body. Follow these three easy steps to naturally form your Core and officially join the ranks of other Martial Warriors in training. Although it doesnt sound difficult, 99% of the population never make it this far, a tangible barrier which separates plebeians from high society.
Its kind of a bum deal for ordinary peasants, the backbone of society who are never properly appreciated by their superhuman overlords. Without them, Martial Warriors would starve in the streets since they require two to five tis more food than a normal commoner. In so ways its a good thing everyone cant beco Martial Warriors, but Im not convinced economic viability is the reason most people fail to form a Core.
Ill never forget when I first beca a Martial Warrior. Six months into training, I found Balance for the first ti while sitting on a cliff overlooking the village which took in. It was as simple as closing my eyes and breathing, sothing Id done countless tis before yet never truly succeeded in. This world was a complete nightmare when I first arrived, but Baatar and Sarnai, Alsantset and Charok, Taduk and i Lin, they all took in, gave a place to call ho, and filled it with people to call family. They showed I belonged in the village, that I was safe and more importantly, I was loved.
In comparison, Tali and Tate found Balance at the tender age of six, a re four months into training, which is part of the reason I feel ashad whenever soone gushes about how talented or gifted I am. All I do is pick up new things quickly, there's nothing amazing about it. Still takes forever to master them.
Finding Balance was like discovering soone loved , only this soone is the world. The hell-hole of a planet opened its taphorical arms and welcod with a loving embrace, which brings up a few conflicting emotions. Either way, I had a Core. It wasnt a foreign object lodged inside but a natural part of my body like any organ or muscle. I even developed a sixth sense which allowed to perceive it, and though I lack trics to asure it by, I always know whether my Core is empty or full the sa way I know whether Im hungry or tired. When I ditate, its like sitting in the cool shade on a warm sumr day as the Heavenly Energy rushes into my Core, making feel safe and loved. I beca a part of sothing bigger than myself, more in tune with nature around as my mind processed a myriad of details Id never noticed before. I could see farther, hear better, feel, sll, and taste more, all because Id taken the first step on my Martial Path and joined the 1%.
Whoopdy-do.
While forming a Core is a fundantal first step to becoming a Martial Warrior, you might as well celebrate learning how to breathe because thats essentially all it is. Its not air youre breathing, but Heavenly Energy, passively converting it into Chi for your use. Sure, your prospects improve significantly upon forming your Core, allowing you to find work as a hunter, guard, rcenary or soldier, but a peaceful life is forever denied to you. A Martial Warrior treads along the Martial Path on a journey to the peak of the Martial Way.
Calling it the Martial Path is sothing of a misnor. A path implies a trail or track laid down for others to follow. Whether it be well-worn dirt walkway in a dense forests or a paved avenue through the heart of the City, a path facilitates the movent of traffic and make things easier for those who follow it.
The Martial Path does none of those things.
They call it a path because it's the route you take to strength, one you forge through overcoming adversity and hardships. Before you is a mountain of infinite height and your lifes purpose is to scale it by carving one step at a ti out of its adamantine surface. Advice helps but only to a certain extent, because no two people walk the sa Path using the sa tools. Every person is born unique with differing aptitudes and capabilities, which you use to shape your Path. For example, Baatars Martial Path suits Baledaghs personality well, a hyper-aggressive, overbearing approach to combat, reliant on instinct and reaction. Thing is, Baledagh cant do what Baatar does because even though theyre similar in personality, theyre not the sa person. They have different thought processes and instincts and will co to different conclusions. While certain things can be taught, its always better to find what works for you instead of following soone elses Path.
The Empire does things differently with many families or factions adopting a particular style, like BoShui and his uncle BoHai. As much as Id like a rigid guideline to follow, Baatar and Akanais free-form teaching style seems to work pretty well for the People, so Im giving it my best shot.
As usual, things arent going great.
Inside my Natal Palace, its like I have a seventh sense which allows to visualize the flow of Chi in addition to sensing it. Its an incredible diagnostic and testing tool, but the problem is everything I learn leads to more questions, which gets confusing after a while. Ive been working on defining the rules and properties of Heavenly Energy, and by extension, Chi. Assuming Heavenly Energy is a natural phenonon and not sothing esoteric like an all-powerful entity lending us power, then it stands to reason Heavenly Energy follows a set of rules and behaviours, like how water flows downhill or wind blows from high pressure to low pressure. Unfortunately, Ive yet to properly define what those rules are.
Complexity of the task has no bearing on the difficulty of Chi use. Take Honing for example, the first real skill I learned. I want to cut, I visualize the cut, and Peace shears through tal like butter. Simple, easy, effective, except its none of those things. When I Hone, my Chi flows around the blade like a chainsaw, but Baatar describes Honing differently. His Chi solidifies on his sword and forms an edge so thin you can hear it cut the air instead of part it. Theres no moving chain for him, which ans were doing two different things to achieve the sa results and calling it Honing. Since were both capable of replicating the others thods, this tells that Chi is highly dependant on visual imagery. That doesnt an I can do anything I imagine, but if I want to succeed, knowing what to visualize is important.
Except it isnt.
Case in point, Reinforcent. Its not a passive strength increase like I initially believed, but an active technique which you sustain indefinitely. The outco is the sa but in practice, much more difficult. Instead of flipping a switch for extra strength and forgetting about it, its more like keeping a basketball spinning on top of your head at all tis, assuming the basketball gave you superhuman strength while spinning. Difficult, but you get used to it after a while and the results are worth it. When I Reinforce my body, Chi flows to all my muscles and organs to support them. I can punch harder, jump higher, and run faster because Chi is augnting my bodys basic abilities. The augntation is multiplicative, so the stronger your body naturally is, the more benefit you get from Reinforcent. This doesnt necessarily an bigger is always better, but a 700 kg punch Reinforced at 1.5 tis effectiveness is equal to a 1-ton punch Reinforced at 1.05 effectiveness. Unless you feel like wasting all your focus and Chi on Reinforcent, then its best to hit the gym.
Point is, sustaining the skill aside, Reinforcent is one of the easiest skills to learn despite being an exceedingly complex manipulation of Chi. The human body is an intricate machine with millions upon millions of individual parts all working in concert to keep you alive. To breathe in, your diaphragm contracts and abdominal muscles stretch, pulling your rib cage upwards and giving room for your lungs to expand. Guided by a muscle in your throat which keeps you from inhaling food or filling your stomach with gas, air rushes in through your nose or mouth and into your lungs, where your blood picks up this precious cargo for delivery. Then, your heart sends the nourishing blood through a network of arteries and capillaries spanning across every millitre of your body, distributing the life-giving air to where its needed and picking up waste products. Moving through a second network of veins, your blood returns to the lungs and dumps the waste to be exhaled before picking up a new load of precious air.
All that just to do sothing as basic as breathing, which you can augnt with Chi by concentrating really, really hard. Even moving my arm up and down requires a multitude of muscles to work in a coordinated, push-pull effort, and Chi sohow magically knows exactly what to do when Reinforcing. Its like wearing an invisible, intangible suit made of Chi which sinks into your body and augnts everything it does. Reinforcent might be easy to learn, but the process of Reinforcent is anything but simple. Id wager Ral knows next to nothing about how his body works but hes incredibly adept at Reinforcent, if nothing else, which effectively disproves my theory of visualization being important to Chi manipulation.
My current theory is that Chi performs based on intention. I want to cut, my Chi helps cut. I want to be stronger, my Chi makes my body stronger. I want to run up a steep slope, my Chi lightens my body and helps up. The problem is, I also want to soar in the skies like a bird and shit fire and lightning on my enemies, but thats not happening, which ans there are limits to what Chi can do, like the inability to graft or create bear arms for myself.
Except again, not true.
Ancestral Beasts totally rework everything about them, going from rabbit, rat, bear or whatnot, to animal-eared humanoid. Truth be told, I kind of want to cut open an Ancestral Beast or half-beasts head to see how their animal ears work. Realistically, they shouldnt since theyd have to burrow through their brains to connect to the ear canals, or make room for a second set of ear drums. Lins ears twitch in response to sound even when she covers her human ones, which is mind-boggling. Not only that but Milas tail flicks around when shes nervous or lying, Baatars ears seems permanently pressed against his head with Sarnai in a coma, and the crown of Tates skull is thicker and sturdier than normal in order to support the curling horns on either side of head.
Talis horns arent as big or curly, but her forehead is also a little broader than normal, which makes her all the cuter.
Either way, we all know Heavenly Energy allows for so pretty insane modifications which Chi cannot. Except it probably can, and we just haven't figured out how. The biggest wrinkle in the no-bear arms philosophy is Sanshus resident psycho cannibal Gen. Fire-throwing aside, whats the deal with his hands? Sohow, Gen transmuted his regular, human hands into tallic, shape-shifting sword hands which should be impossible, but isn't. Conventional wisdom says this ans hes manipulating pure Heavenly Energy (or its demonic counterpart), but Gen went from common hunter to elite, fla-flinging, soldier killing, Demon-controlling, sword-hand having Defiled in a matter of weeks, if not days. Theres no way he beca an Ancestral Human so quickly, which ans there must be a way to replicate his success as a re mortal. Im not saying I want tallic, shape-shifting hands or even permanent bear hands. For one thing, theyd make it a lot harder to do... certain activities, but Im curious how Gen managed a feat which was only previously accomplished by Ancestral Beasts, and only after thousands of years of practice.
My best guess? He didnt know it was impossible, so it worked.
Maybe thats why everyone regrows teeth, even commoners who cant control Chi. Theyre born toothless, grow a few baby teeth, lose them all, and then their body naturally replaces those baby teeth with permanent adult teeth. Then, when soone loses another, supposedly permanent tooth, they dont realize its not supposed to grow back so the Heavenly Energy obliges and out pops a new tooth. Its a shaky theory at best and of little to no use at all if true. How am I supposed to will myself to disbelieve a fundantal truth like mans inability to fly?
Regardless of all my questions, my Chi skills have improved these past few months, though Im nowhere closer to using Chi externally. Mila never got my Sending back in Sanshu and Deflection isnt an external use of Chi. Its using Chi internally to displace objects outside my body, an explanation which left staring like a deer in the headlights. Worse, in the process of learning more about my skills, Ive also learned about their limits which is never fun.
I always believed there was more to the world, a veil behind which all the wonderfully fancy Chi manipulations and uses were hiding. I an, there are skills which Ive yet to understand much less try, but the majority Ive heard about are fairly... bland. Most Chi skills are almost mundane in nature, things like Sending, Speaking, Watching, or Listening. Almost anything a human can do, Chi can help you do better, which while useful, doesnt hold my interest. Not to say top experts cant do aweso things like run across water or create shockwaves with a clap, but they dont because its inefficient.
So disappointing. Wheres the romance?
I see where theyre coming from though. When were working in tandem, I can Reinforce Baledagh until he hits like a truck, which is pretty effective at killing things. Admittedly, theres a limit to what our body can endure, but even keeping well within them is sufficient to turn us into a killing machine.
At my upper limits of Reinforcent, punching air is enough to tear the ligants in my arms and pop my elbow from its socket. Physical repercussions aside, putting so much into Reinforcent requires a minute long ramp-up ti during which I need to concentrate wholly on the task, aning Im useless for anything else in the interim. It doesnt last long either, blowing my load of Chi in a few heartbeats which leaves ashad and my Core empty and flaccid.
The trick to Reinforcent is to keep it on all the ti at a setting you can sustain indefinitely. This way, not only does the skill beco second nature, it lets you get used to the extra strength. It makes sense, babies and teenagers are clumsy because theyre adapting to their rapidly changing bodies, so it stands to reason a warrior wouldnt want to deal with a sudden change in strength mid-fight.
Realizing I havent blinked in what feels like hours, I bring the world back into focus around . Rubbing my temples eases my discomfort despite not having an actual physical body, my mind creating the illusion of relief brought about by my actions. With a long sigh, I gaze around at the empty void, where Blobby floats about like the tiny drop of water he is.
Yes, Ive decided the amorphous blob of water is a he. Theres no way Im comfortable with Blobby being female even if he was birthed from the tear ducts of an otherworldly goddess, which Im still not 100% convinced of. Ive also decided he shouldnt pretend to be bigger than he is, swirling all around and Baledagh while were inside our Natal Palace. Hes a droplet, so he should act appropriately.
Summoning the droplet to my palm, I watch Blobby... be water. he doesnt do much of anything these days, sluggishly drifting about day and night with the room I crafted for Baledagh embedded within. My little brother likes the watery surroundings, says it makes him feel warm and safe, so I let him be. I could fancy up my surroundings, but I find the complete and utter lack of distractions necessary to train in, since I have the attention span of a six-year-old hopped up on sugar and cocaine. Like now, I should be practising but instead Im reviewing all my failures because Im a closeted masochist.
Well... considering my training regin, maybe not so closeted. I, Falling Rain, am openly masochistic. I an, Mila broke my hand in our first passionate encounter and I cant stop smiling about it. I love how flustered and apologetic she got afterwards, gently and diligently helping wash and splint my injured hand. In retrospect, she was probably trying to get rid of the sll so Lin wouldnt realize what we were up to, but I digress.
Pulling back from my distraction, I refocus on Blobby. Maybe its the lack of food, but after serving as inspiration for my Beyblade Aura, Blobby hasnt responded to any of my attempts to plead, cajole, or blackmail him into paying more rent. Theres nothing I can do. Tainted are hard to co by, which ans either they were more prevalent in Sanshu than normal or the Spectres have all upped and left, presumably with the army of Defiled who disappeared from our doorsteps. Maybe they figured itd be easier to take the long way around to the Western Province, but nothing in my experience tells Defiled would ever retreat from a fight. Im expecting the war to resu any day now that winter is coming to an end, with spring re weeks away. Blobby is my best chance for a massive leap in strength, a requirent if I want to have a bigger impact in the war.
Fighting Defiled is the least I can do for these people who took in and gave a family. Id rather contribute in other ways, but ever since those first few days after I returned, Sarnai has shown no signs of improvent. If anything, her bodys health is deteriorating as expected from a long period of inactivity, the lack of Tainted or Demons really putting a damper on my Heavenly Energy collection efforts. The cleverest housewife can't cook a al without rice and the greatest healer cant bring the dead back to life. Maybe Taduk was right, maybe Sarnai already passed away and weve been caring for a living corpse these past months. Even Baatar cant remain hopeful for this long and its killing to see him in so much pain.
I wanted to be a hero and accomplish the impossible, but I failed.
Story of my life.
The rest of my practice goes by without significant accomplishnts or insights. Unable to bear the ntal strain from the complete detachnt from my physical body, I break my self-imposed seclusion and reconnect with Baledagh. Hey little brother, I say with a ntal smile. How was tea ti with Lin and the twins?
Please stop sending on these dates Brother, he answers, not the least bit grateful. I find them exceedingly uncomfortable. Also, we ran into a problem.
Oh lighten up, theyre not dates. I explicitly told Lin shes not allowed to be clingy in public or in front of the twins and you had both. Its an afternoon snack in a tea house, not a sunset stroll on the beach. I figured seeing the adorable twins eat to their heart's content would be good for Baledagh, and if not, at least he could try so delicious desserts. They have this almond jelly that is to die for which I cannot for the life of figure out how to duplicate. Frowning as his words sink in, I ask, Wait, what problem? Its a public tea-house, what sort of problem did you run into? Please dont tell he started another feud...
The problem ca after. You know the delivery of slaves you were expecting?
Yea, from Yazhu. I figured you could check if there were any Tainted and sign off on the shipnt. What happened? Yazhu ca highly recomnded by Rustrams dad and seed like a decent enough person for a slaver.
The guys who delivered it tried to kill us. Not Yazhu, unless thats the guy I stabbed in the face. Two assassins, both dead. I tried to take them prisoner but they werent having any of it. Anyways, Im just waiting for the guards now. Oh, and what happened with our hand Brother? It wouldve been much easier to fight with my right hand.
This ti, massaging my temples does nothing to ease my suffering.
Only Baledagh can turn an afternoon tea-house trip into a double homicide.
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