“Kid come here and help me.” George and Joseph both looked at each other with a confused look on their faces. Which of the two did he mean? Keven got a little angry after a while and started to scold Joseph.

“Hurry up kid, the kid only gave me ten credits and I don’t have all day. And I thought I was slow, at least I’m eighty session years old, what’s your excuse?”

Joseph didn’t seem angry and if he was angry he was good at hiding it. he quickened his pace and went to where master Kevin was standing.

“The basic bō skill had seven levels as you already know. Unlike the first five levels, the sixth and seventh level focuses on offensive. The sixth level is just a set of offensive moves you can use with the bō, but the seventh level is something not many students can do and even experienced martial artists find hard to master. Kid show him the sixth and the seventh level.”

Joseph walked to the center of the yard and started to move with his whole body, warming up. When you looked at his movement it looked like any other student training, but George could see the difference when he concentrated on the moves. There was no unnecessary movement. But even so, it didn’t look that hard to do with some training. What George didn’t know was that Joseph was not only showing the offensive moves of the sixth level but also the defensive moves of the fourth level which let no opening for a counter attack.

After doing the basic moves for a couple of minutes Joseph walked toward the stone at the center of the yard and started to attack it with the bō staff, the hits looked basic and George was a little surprised by how weak Joseph was. What he didn’t know was that Joseph had put all his characteristic points on health and only had the strength of an ordinary human.

George was getting bored after a couple of minutes and just as he was losing his concentration on the moves Joseph was making he saw a white glow on the bō staff, the attack that did almost no damage hit the stone and a hard explosion could be heard that reached the end of the training ground. Master Keven was looking and started to nod his head when the big stone broke in half.

“Nicely done kid, I can see you worked hard on mastering your light element energy.”

Joseph moved his hand and the rock got replaced with a new one that looked exactly the same. He was clearly happy with master Keven’s compliment but didn’t want to show it.

George was still trying to understand what just happened. He didn’t think that joseph’s last attack would be so powerful to break the big stone in half, especially after the weak attacks from before. This was the first time George saw someone that could do something no ordinary human could and he couldn’t deny the excitement he felt when he saw the results of joseph’s powerful attack.

Master Keven walked toward the stone and without giving any warning hit the rock with his cane. The attack could not even be called an attack and looked more like two objects connecting. After a second the rock exploded and the big rock turned into thousand smaller rocks. The sound it made was so hard that even the other training grounds could hear it. George not expecting it got a big fright and had a look of shock on his face. Master Keven also moves his hands and the rock he had just destroyed was replaced with a new one. Master Keven had a smile on his face seeing the surprise on George’s face. In reality, it was the first time master Keven had performed an attack that strong since the time he came to wine village and he only did it to show George how powerful martial arts and cultivation could be. The principal had told him about George and that he had no interest in martial arts and this was master Keven’s attempt to make George more interested in martial arts.

“The attack I just used was a simple attack that could be compared with the seventh level of the bō skill. I didn’t use more mana or element energy than Joseph did, but you could see the difference. The reason my attack is so much more powerful is because of my insight in the earth element. This is why people who get insight are so much more powerful in fights. Even though I’m not from the fighter class I can do more damage than most of them because of the insight I have in the earth element. But the fighter class masters who have insight on the elements can destroy the who training field we are standing on with the same amount of element energy. But don’t think that because of their great offense people like us have no chance of winning a fight. What we lack in attack power, we gain in defensive skills.”

What George didn’t know was that master Keven was talking about the elite who have the power of generals and that many fighters who could be considered masters only had a little insight on the elements.

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Master Keven turned his palm up and produced something that looked like green energy.

“When you kill a magical beast they will drop something called energy stones. Inside the stone is something we call natural energy. When you absorb the energy it enters your body and becomes part of you, when you absorbed the natural energy it changes into dark element energy. A specific amount of natural energy is needed to break into the next level until you reach level ten. After level ten you need to find insight into the dark element and find a way to compress the dark energy inside your body. Only then can you break the bottleneck, and live as a real cultivator, we call it the first level of the spirit stage. Double or more element users need twice the insight and natural energy, even though it means double the work it also means that they will have a big advantage over other cultivators. But they can also decide to work on only one element and make a breakthrough with that element first. There are double element users who find it hard to gain any insight on an element or it doesn't fit their class and decided to focus only on the element that suits them.”

George was listening with care to what master Keven was saying, partly because he was interested and partly because he thought that the principal could ask questions later.

“There are two ways to absorbed the energy from an energy stone, energy refining techniques, and alchemy. It doesn’t matter if you buy it or kill a beast for it, but you still need to absorb the energy within and change it into dark energy. This is what an energy refining techniques are for. The difference between a low-grade refining technique and a high on is simple, the amount of energy you can get from each energy stone. In fact, a low-grade refining technique can only absorb twenty percent of a low-grade energy stone. This means that eighty percent of the energy stone is wasted. That’s why you should never use an energy stones above low-grade, and just sell it. You can then use the money to buy energy pills, which are made by alchemists. Alchemists have the ability to take the energy stone and change the natural energy into element energy, which the users can then use, without losing any of the energy.”

Master Keven walked toward George and patted him on the shoulder with a kind smile on his face.

“This is the last thing I can do for you.”

When he said that a small stone and another skill appeared in master Keven’s hands and he gave the two items to George. George had never seen an energy stone before but it was smaller than he had expected. It was just as big as a fingernail and he could see bright energy inside.

“Put those two away and use it when you are alone in your room. The refining technique alone is worth five credits and people will snatch if from you if they see it. I sure am nice to give to so much for just ten credits. Now go home and use the remaining time you have to learn the refining technique. I wanted to try some moves, but with the money you gave me I can’t in good conscious do more than I already have, it would be unfair to the other students. Come back to train the bō skill at least once every session day and ask Joseph if you have any questions. I will come and see your progress in one session month. An average student would master at least the first level after a session month so I would try hard if I were you. Especially with the principal kid as your personal teacher.”

Master Keven had a small evil smirk on his face which made George afraid. After they said their goodbyes to master Keven and Joseph, George went back to his room to study the refining technique. It was already late it was getting dark outside. George didn’t know how much time he had left but he didn’t increase his pace and didn’t care if he still had enough time to learn the refining technique tonight or wait for the next session day.

“Master you just gave him a middle-grade spirit refining technique! Maybe you didn’t see it because of your bad eyesight, should I go get it back?”

Master Keven turned around with an angry look on his face.

“I’m not that old, that I don’t know the difference between low-grade and middle-grade techniques kid. I gave it to him to teach him a lesson he won’t forget.”

Master Keven had a smirk on his face from ear or ear and started to laugh out loud and left Joseph there standing in confusion.

When he reached his room he saw the boy in blue reading like always. George knowing a little more said hello and went to his desk reading. The boy in blue surprised by George’s greeting greeted back and didn’t say anything else either.

Just as George was changing the comfortable clothes he had bought and getting ready to sit and learn the refining technique, three boys were standing outside of his room.

“Are you sure master Keven gave him the middle-grade spirit stage refining technique?”

The other boy next to him nodded with confidence.

“I was there watching the masters hoping to gain some insight and saw master Keven hand him the yellow scroll with spirit refining technique on it. But are you sure we should do this? Someone who gets a middle-grade refining technique should have a powerful background.”

The boy in the middle clearly the leader nodded his head and whispered back.

“Don’t worry, the boy is new and doesn’t know anyone. I heard he never talks to anyone and doesn’t practice martial arts so it should be too easy snatching the skill from him. Besides we are wearing masks, so he can’t see us anyways. Before he knows what’s going on we have the technique and are out of here.”