Present time.
5:09 AM. 12th February, 1245. Serafin Calendar.
Today is a weekend. Castiel has just turned fourteen a while ago, 5 feet 6 inches. He practiced the Fundamentals of Man for one hour only. With the help of the modified two handed basic sword art, Castiel also modified the Fundamentals of Man based on his body’s feedback. His body has started working like a precision machine. Even then, it has been 34 days since he felt a shred of strength or agility growth. After an hour, he started practicing the moves of the two handed basic sword art.
There is a tamarind tree in his garden. Tamarind tree leaves are about 2 centimeters long and 8 millimeters wide. Minute changes in wind speed and air temperature can affect their free fall. Castiel practices his sword moves below the tree for hours and hours on end. He is able to move his body in ways that are impossible for other mortals to achieve. He has already added a few moves to the sword art to account for the blind spots that he can reach.
He doesn’t have a good technique to practice footwork, and he might not find anything better in the future either since most footwork require control of elements. He focuses more on the absolute control of the battlefield. He only occasionally moves his foot forward or backward while his hands do all the work. The way he practices swords is akin to a dance of swords. Any tamarind leaf that enters his field of vision is cut apart exactly in the middle. Even though the leaves fall quite chaotically, he doesn’t miss even by a few millimeters.
The screeches of his sword swings woke Amelia up. She quietly came out of the house and sat on a nearby swinging chair, admiring his brother’s sword dance.
By the time he was done, Mei and Amelia were both sitting on a chair and waiting, Amelia on Mei’s lap. Mei was donned in practice robes with chainmail gloves and shin guards. Mei was still a little taller than Castiel at 5 feet 8 inches. She had cut her shorter with her front bangs only reaching her ears. Her eyes flickered between fiery red and yellow more frequently now. She had grown into a heavenly beauty with a bust the whole of Bluefire drooled over . She had been the Bluefire spire bone-forging champion for a year now and no challenger yet has even come close to withstanding two of her moves.
“What’s up Mei? Fancy seeing you here in practice gear.”
“Let’s spar.” Mei replied passionately with laser-focussed eyes.
“Me? Spar with you? The bone-forging champion of Bluefire spire? Ame, your big sister is bullying me.” He had learned to make small jokes in the past two years spending time with Mei.
“Don’t bully my brother.” Amelia followed along naughtily.
“I am serious, Cass. You are quite possibly the strongest mortal in the empire now. Do you not want to know how strong you really are? I will control my mana input to the early qi gathering stage but I won’t lower my skill level. Well, I can’t lower my skill level. I cannot just forget my skills. Up for the challenge?”
“You can control your mana input?” He was shocked.
“I am also a genius, you know?” Mei thought Castiel was also a genius with his own unique plans for the future even if she didn’t agree with those plans. Castiel never corrected her thoughts. His burden is his own to carry.
“Give me an hour to rest.” He was also serious now.
.
“Not worried about your garden getting destroyed?” He decided they will duel inside an open patch near a corner of his garden.
“It’s fine. Let’s start.” He took his stance. Right foot forward, facing Mei. His katana held in both hands in front of his chest with the blade going half a feet above his head. 2 years of constant practice had dulled his cheap katana. The blade edge had chips in it. It looked like it was on the verge of crumbling down.
“Not coming at me first?” Mei asked as she got ready. She stood ten meters away from him.
“You know I can’t.”
“Ok then. Here I come.”
“Secrets of Heavenly Fire, first form.” Mei whispered.
Her fists and feet burned in beautiful pale red fire. Her left feet erupted in a jet of fire as she lunged at him. She closed the gap in just a second and made a flying downward kick to his head. Training with falling tamarind leaves had prepared him for moments just like these. He turned his body leftwards slightly with his left foot as pivot and swung his sword downwards to parry the oncoming attack. The blade and her shin made a sonorous impact.
Mei leapt backwards to give Castiel some time to adjust. This was his first time fighting another person. Castiel’s hands were numb from the impact. It’s fortunate that the sword handle was made from wood or he would have to drop the sword due to the blade’s rising temperature alone. -My body will never be my strong point in the path of cultivation. My fights can never turn into a battle of attrition. I need to finish every fight as soon as possible.- He thought.
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“Let’s continue. Don’t give me respite anymore.” He said.
“If you say so. Secrets of Heaven Fire, second form.” Mei’s pupils spewed blue fire. She lunged at him with a chaotic series of fists and kicks to disrupt his battle sense but he parried them all effortlessly. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it but she felt like he was baiting her to focus on certain parts of his body.
Slowly, it was becoming strenuous for him to follow her movements. He was just controlling her movements slightly and using precise calculations to predict her uncontrolled movements.
Mei made a roundhouse kick to his left upper arm, he blocked it but faltered. He was getting tired. His katana was almost breaking apart. Almost instantly, Mei sprinted to his side and punched his liver with his left fist. He barely managed to turn and block the attack with a backwards swing, one of the moves he added to the basic sword art, but the sword broke apart from impact. Mei didn’t waste a second and punched his head with her right fist. Before her fist could even reach his face, the broken blade was already at her neck held in Castiel’s left hand. He was still holding the katana handle with his right hand.
“So you calculated this? Good job, Cass. I am so proud of you. When will you actually break through to qi gathering? Still not ready yet?” Mei was not the least bit unhappy with her loss. It’s like she was prouder than him at his win.
“Now.” He immediately sat cross legged on the ground and took some primary mana stones out to absorb mana from. Mei was astonished that he was directly absorbing mana from mana stones. She was a little sad that he didn’t ask her for help if needed pills.
“Ame, let’s go inside. We have to give your brother some space now.”
“Is my brother hurt? Are you mad at him?” She was too small to understand why the two were fighting. She had tears in her eyes.
“No baby, we were just play-fighting. Your brother is now cultivating to become more powerful.”
“More powerful than you?”
“No no no. I will always be the most powerful.” Mei said proudly with her hands on her hips.
“Hmph, my brother is the most powerful.” Amelia wrinkled her nose in annoyance.
.
Castiel has gone through the Fundamentals of Man in his head numerous times in the last two years. He had already planned his qi gathering journey before he even started cultivation. Castiel first focussed on filling the mana channels in and near his spine.
Going forwards, he will always be in a disadvantageous position compared to others with regards to his body and mana intensity. So he is going to use the only advantage he has to its utmost, his intellect. His fights will consist of either killing the enemy in one blow or finishing the fight as soon as possible. To do this, he needs to be in control of the battlefield, to predict enemy movements with precise calculations and to respond to them in time with ultimate reflexes. So that’s going to be his focus in his cultivation journey, the speed with which he can swing his sword and the speed with which he can react to anything, aka neural reflex. The nerves in the spine connect to every part of the body. That’s why he focussed on the mana channels on the spine first.
He had already reached peak early qi gathering when he filled all the mana channels near the spine. He could feel that he can still go on. He focussed on his hands and legs next. By the time he was done with them, the sun had already set. Repeatedly circulating large amounts of mana started to hurt his non-filled channels. He had spent about hundred primary mana stones. He had to stop cultivating for a few days. He dusted his clothes and stood up.
As soon as he took his first step towards his house, he was so shocked that he had to stop in his tracks. He could feel the Fundamentals of God constantly running automatically without his input. It was very very slowly but surely polishing his mana for impurities, granted it might take years to excrete all the impurities ingested from the mana stones with passive cultivation. But he will always constantly grow stronger. He will also heal faster during bone-forging. This was such good news but sadly he had nobody to share it with. -One step closer.- He whispered.
He took a shower outside the house first. Then entered the house.
“Brother!!!!! Can you fly now?” Amelia asked excitedly.
“No, baby. But I am super powerful now. It’s time to sleep. We will talk later.” He said as he flexed his biceps. He noticed that she was a little tired from maybe being excited all day. He picked her up and tucked her in her bed.
“Mei, you should also go. It’s getting late.”
“First, you need to tell me why you didn’t come to me for help regarding pills? Absorbing mana from mana stones is so bad for cultivation. I will never believe you if you say you didn’t know about the impurity concentration in mana stones.” He had never, in his life, seen Mei so mad.
“I am really sorry for upsetting you. You don’t have to worry about me. My cultivation method is a little special. It is actually more advantageous for me to absorb mana directly from mana stones. I promise.” Castiel explained apologetically.
“Ok, I believe you but you can never hide if you ever need any help. Got it?”
“Absolutely.”
She didn't press further, same as he didn’t ask her about her cultivation secret.
“One more question. How strong are you now?”
“Peak mid qi-gathering. About five times as strong as when you last fought me.” He said matter-of-factly.
“Nice. Get acquainted with your power. We will spar again soon. But this time there will be no mercy.” Mei was like a bull ready to charge at him again.
“If you keep being so bull-headed, you will never get a boyfriend.”
Mei started fuming. He could feel the heat from a meter away.
“Sorry sorry sorry. Please don’t beat me.” Before he could get a beating, he bowed down and apologized profusely.
“Hmph. Don’t forget the plan tomorrow.”
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Author's note: I have slightly changed the wordings on cultivation levels. Instead of early>mid>late>peak, it is early>mid>late>pinnacle. Previous chapters have been updated to reflect this change.