The training arena was just a circle of rocks, the smallest being 20 pounds and the largest was easily over 10000. Yes it was a drastic change but when you are trying to defy the heavens then you have to do heaven defying feats.
“You will start off with lifting the small rock over your head and walking around the circle 50 times. Then while still holding the rock over your head you will do 100 squats. After that you will hold it straight out in front of you then lift it up over your head and lower it back down, this will go for 100 repetitions. At the end you will run around the circle 100 times. This will be repeated after you have a quick break but you will not get a break until you finish the first set.” Cora said with absolute authority.
Zach heaved a heavy sigh and got to work. Thanks to the revitalizing effects of the blood he was now able to do the most basic of work outs. However this was not basic by any means. You could say it was a trial by fire. Lifting the rock was the only easy part of the routine. As soon as he had the rock fully above his head his arms started to tire.
Due to not being able to work, or do anything really, Zach had little to no muscle mass. After one lap he could barely hold the rock any more. At a lap and a half he was sweating so bad that his palms became sweaty and he dropped the rock. Now what happens when you drop a rock directly onto your head. Well if you guessed getting knocked out then you’d be correct.
Like a rock, pun intended, Zach fell to the ground.
Coming back from the world of unconsciousness he realized he was still at the arena. “You gotta finish the set.” Cora stated from atop the largest rock there, easily the size of the house.
“This is bull shit.” He mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” She asked. She had clearly heard but wanted to see if he had the balls to say it again.
“Nothing!” Zach shouted while quickly grabbing the rock and starting his laps again. This time he only knocked himself out again after 3 laps. Progress at least.
Slowly but surely he continued to progress in the work out. By the time he got to the squat portion he was more exhausted than he had ever been before in his life. He wanted it to end but he couldn’t. He had to be strong. He had to fight. He needed revenge.
While walking Cora informed him that a beast lord had cause the beast flood that ripped his life apart. This news didn’t deter him in the least. If anything it solidified his resolve. He was no longer a frog in such a tiny well, sure the well was a bit bigger now but now he understood a large fact. There is and always will be someone stronger out there.
The only way to fight against this reality is to become as strong as he could. The fire from his resolve pushed him through the rest of the work out with no incidents.
When he was finished he dropped the rock and passed out on the ground. Muscles sore and shooting with pain he laid there. He closed his eyes for a brief period and by the time he opened them again he saw Cora standing right above him.
“Not bad. Not good by any means but… not bad. Here eat this it will help you greatly.” She said while holding a plate piled high with potatoes, meat and fruits.
Not realizing how hungry he had been he ate like a starved animal. “Slow down.” Cora chimed in.
As he slowed down Zach realized that the food did more than just ease his hunger. His body recovered almost instantly and he was ready to go again by the time he was done!
The next round of exercise went smooth yet Zach was still exhausted at the end. This routine went one for about 5 days, he couldn’t tell since there was no sun. he would work out, eat, workout, eat, sleep and repeat. after the supposed 5 days he went up to a 50 pound rock and repeated the same process.
The 50 pound rock lasted for a week and unbeknownst to him the muscles on his body rapidly grew as he went from the beginning to the peak of the small success stage of the muscle strengthening stage. Now Zach had cords of muscle that wove under his skin.
The next step was 100 pound rock. Now none of this may seem all that bad but the point was to get him up to the 10000 pound rock that would be over 10 times the amount that a normal martial artist could use. He needed to be able to hold 10000 pounds in order to only pass through the muscle strengthening into blood and bone forging. The Reason was because of the crazy cultivation that he practiced.
The cultivation that was made was to surpass any and all types of cultivation that existed in the cosmos. One could only speculate how monstrous he would be when he finally started to absorbed the energies of creation.
The energies of creation are what cultivators absorb to help them go against the will of the heavens and as such once they start to absorb these energies they become cultivators. Until then they are merely martial artists.
Slowly Zach grew. He grew faster than either woman could possibly comprehend. He was a freak. A monster! After 5 months he was already at the 500 pound boulder and looked like a walking mountain. Every step he took a sound akin to thunder rang out. At this point he was at the peak of the mid success of muscle strengthening.
The amount he needed to eat grew as well. Soon he was eating whole roasted animals rather than a small plate. His relationship with Cora grew as well. Now they were just friends but her mother had different plans.
In a secluded part of the cave while Zach was training.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Cora I have noticed the friendship you have made with that boy. I don’t like it.”
“I know mother but I can’t help it. He’s a good man that works hard. How could I not like him?”
“I know but it’s dangerous! Humans are vile creatures that will stop at nothing to get what they want.”
“Well the same goes for beasts mother.” She sighed, not really wanting to deal with this situation anymore.
“I can’t risk it daughter!”
“Why? is it because of my father? Is that it? If so I understand but I still would like to make my own decisions.”
“No your father was a good man… just.. ugh never mind.” She sighed with her head in her hand. “Just be careful daughter. We are the last of our kind and would be hunted down to the ends of the cosmos if we were found out.”
“I understand and that’s why I suggested the idea 3 months ago.”
“ I know but I”
“No buts mother. It will be fine. I love you. Besides he has to pass through the final bottle neck of meridian opening anyways.” Cora butted in.
Her mother sighed and they went back to the house.
The days passed slowly as Zach continued his progress. Unfortunately all he knew was rocks. He had no combat experience with his strength. This was detrimental to his progress.
“Hey Cora!” He shouted out.
“What?”
“I need something. I feel like I’m getting nowhere with my training. I’m not sure what to do here.” Zach sighed.
“Hm.. do you feel like you have strength that you don’t know how to control?”
This perfectly described the feeling that he had. “Yes! That’s exactly how it feels.”
“OK. Well I know exactly what we must do for you.”
“What’s that?”
“You need to fight some beasts to get used to your body. Go see my mother while I get ready for the trip. We’ll probably be gone for a couple weeks or so.”
“Ok. No prob.”
In the house Cora’s mother was sitting and waiting for Zach. She was anxious and fidgeted constantly as if she wasn’t sure what she was about to do next. She calmed down as soon as Zach walked into the house.
“Hello Zach.” She said in a very formal manner.
“Hi.”
“I suppose you’re wondering why you’re here right?”
Zach remained silent, it was fairly obvious he was.
“Ok well I’ll take that as a yes. Now sit and listen.” He sat immediately of course, she’s a true dragon. A light hiccup and he’d be dead. “Now the old man Oliver has a much deeper past than being a god. See not much people know this but at the beginning of all time and space there was nothing.
“Chaotic space filled up everything. It was a void of destruction, no laws or order at all. In this maelstrom of nothing two particles of energy collided, these energies were created by some means that I have no idea of. It makes no sense to me I just know that that’s what happened. Maybe something was in the void of chaotic nothing but I’ve always been told otherwise.
“Back on topic. When these two particles, which were smaller than a grain of sand, collided a massive explosion happened. This explosion of energy gave birth to old man Oliver. Yea he was the first true god, you can close your mouth you know. When he started to exist, he wasn’t born after all, he had the strange ability to create order out of chaos. He decided to nave the policies that he set up as laws.
“These laws are vast and uncountable. Oliver of course knew that there must be an order to these laws so he created Dao’s to ultimately control the laws. A cultivation method is also a form of law, so every time someone ‘thought’ up a new method they were really using the law he gradually gave them. You can imagine how busy he was.
“Now the only weakness he had was that he could create the laws but never practice them. He could create the laws for life and death but he could never die or truly live. He just existed, a very lonely way to be. Naturally after such a long unfathomable time he wanted it to be over. So he created a new law within the last couple trillion years, yes a trillion is a short time for him.
“This law is the law of inheritance. It was his way out, however he needed the perfect successor. That is where you came in. in order to have the perfect successor, unlike what other sects and people think, one has to have the same mentality as the person leaving the inheritance. You two were beyond a perfect match. Now you have all the knowledge that he had, but it is not at your fingertips! If it was you would explode and die, your body is nowhere near tough enough to withstand that power. So don’t even try yet!
“Eventually though, if you aren’t killed horribly buy anything else or drop a particularly heavy rock on your head, you will be able to know all the laws perfectly. Truly I envy you. You will become the sole existence to absolute power someday. Even I don’t know how high you will soar. Sigh. Well that’s all I have for you since I don’t know anything else. Honestly I’m surprised I was given that much information.” She finished with a smile on her face but uncertainty in her eyes.
Just what would Zach be able to do in the future? How fast could he grow? Most importantly would he learn the law of creation and bring her proud race back! She could not ask this of him of course but she could hope silently.
Slowly Zach stood up. “Well shit. I guess that makes me pretty much a god right? Wait no not yet. Right now I could say I’m a god seed, eventually growing into a supreme being.” He pondered over something for a moment. “That also means that I need many friends!” He said as he slammed a fist into his hand.
Startled Cora’s mother asked. “What? How in the hell did you get to that end result. The god part I get but friends?” She was naturally thinking about people being jealous and trying to steal everything from him.
“Isn’t it obvious? Oliver gave up because he had no one. The same will happen to me if I’m not careful! I need people around me.”
She was stunned. That just made too much sense. Ultimately she felt like an absolute idiot, the smallest frog in the smallest well. She could only smile and nod her head as her view on the world changed.
At this time Cora entered the house. “Ok Zach let’s go!” He turned and prepared to leave before looking back at Cora’s mom and giving her a brief smile.