Chapter 1 – Spirits, Aiden and Lia

Spirits, amalgamations of laws formed in the boundary between body and soul.

Around one in ten thousand people are born with spirits naturally, making it a rarity in the world and allowing at their possessors the capacity to open the door between the mortal and the celestial.

Of course, the fact that someone owns a spirit doesn’t mean that he will live in heavens, or that he will become invincible compared at normal humans.

However, compared to normal humans, spirits possessors are able to cultivate beyond the realm of core forming and use the energy from heavens and earth in amazing and diverse forms.

Though normal humans can use the energy from heaven and earth to form a core too, the most they can do with it is strengthen his body, acquiring greater strength and speed for a brief time.

But spirits possessors are able to go beyond it, injecting energy in objects, manipulating lightning and flames, flying through the skies and even achieving the immortality of the legends.

Of course, the prerequisite is for you to be strong enough.

Aiden was once the possessor of a spirit, a very strong one even among the highest class of spirits, considered the genius of a generation due at his great cultivation speed that allowed him to reach at the peak of core forming at the age of twelve.

However, when he was one step away from breaking through the next realm, his spirit was robbed, used for others like a fertilizer, cutting forever his road to cultivation.

Even now, those memories bring pain to Aiden every time he remembers it.

Sighing softly inside the bathtub, Aiden forced himself to relax, taking out all the fatigue of the day with the warm water and closing his eyes.

A few minutes later, having rested enough, he stood up from the bathtub, took the towel left there for Lia and proceeded to clean his body and wear his clothes.

Coming at the dining room, a few exquisite looking dishes are waiting for him together with Lia, who is already sitting on the table.

“Looks delicious, must have been hard in you.”

“Don’t worry young master, it wasn’t too hard.”

Aiden can only smile wryly hearing that commentary.

“Thanks, though it would have been better if you don’t call me young master.”

Lia only laughed lightly before responding:

“You know that it will not happen, young master.”

“Well, it was worth trying.”

Even though Lia refers to Aiden as young master, the relation between them is much closer than it. From the day when they met three years ago, Aiden had always treated her like one of his few (o perhaps the only) friends. Conversely, though Lia refers to Aiden as young master and usually take care of his needs like a servant, as can be seen currently, she doesn’t fear to rebuke him. Perhaps, she is more like a housewife caring for his husband, like the people of the town constantly joke.

And actually, the relation between the two is really like a married couple, perhaps the only difference between a married couple and them is because they hadn’t taken the last step.

“How is your cultivation doing?”

Once they began to eat, Aiden asked with interest.

“I just need a step to reach at the peak of core forming, young master. I think I will be able to breakthrough before this week ends.”

“Is it so? Your progress is faster than I thought. How expected, you are a genius.”

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“Bah… Compared to young master, I’m far behind!”

Facing the smiling Lia, Aiden could only smile wryly, even though he knows that she doesn’t have any bad intentions.

“Please, don’t joke too much, Lia. After all, I will probably stay in this level for the rest of my life… O at least it is what everybody says...”

“*giggles* That is because they don’t know young master well enough.”

Three years ago, when Aiden met Lia, he was at the lowest point of his life. His spirit was just robbed and he was in the middle of running away from a nightmarish life. His choice of saving Lia that day can be described as the turning point of his fate. Of course, the same can be said for Lia. For her, Aiden was the ray of hope in a world of darkness, a hero like in the fairy tales of legends; and though at the beginning their relationship wasn't the best, at some point both become the pillar supporting each other.

And that is the reason because she knows.

“Did you get any lead, young master?”

“… It is a shame but no. Even though my talent in blacksmithing is very good, I was unable to find a lead in it to break through my bottleneck.”

Yes, though someone without a spirit is supposedly unable to continue cultivating, Aiden continues trying the impossible.

During the three years from the day when Aiden escaped from home, Aiden had been trying to search for a method to continue his cultivation.

To prove at them all, that he is more than a fertilizer…

To show them how wrong they were…

To return to that place and recover what was his…

“Though there are many examples of talented people in a field giving birth at a child with a spirit related to such talent, it looks impossible to develop a spirit from nothing through a talent no matter how you try.”

“Then, was the blacksmithing useless, young master?”

“No. Though I couldn’t find a lead towards spirits through it, my body and combat potential beneficed greatly. The control of my body, strength, and concentration were augmented considerably thanks to the two years of blacksmithing. If I had to say, without including weapons, my combat potential is at least seventy percent stronger than two years ago even though my cultivation had not advanced a bit.”

“*Sigh* At least young master was able to gain something from it.”

“Well, this is not like we had lost all hope.”

Though like a general rule, if you don’t have a spirit from birth you are unable to obtain one in your lifetime, there are a few exceptions through the history, like the Asura Emperor who acquired a spirit from a meteor falling from the skies or the Demon Dragon King who got a spirit despite being a demonic beast. Of course, such situations only happened twice in the 1725 years of the Spirit Era.

Of course, Aiden didn’t hope for such miraculous situation happening to him, but at least, it serves like proof that it is possible to acquire a spirit even if you were born without one (Or if you lost it).

Based in it, Aiden had investigated during three years about a method to recreate a spirit, and though there isn’t any great outcome yet, at least they had been able to reach to various conclusions with the results of their experiments.

“Then, what is young master going to do from now?”

“… Mmm, you probably already know but I will be going to a commission from tomorrow afternoon. I think I will take advantage of this opportunity to practice my saber arts and see if I can get any lead from it. I was thinking of taking you with me, but if you are going to breakthrough soon then I think it is better if you stay here.”

Though slightly reluctant to stay behind, at the end Lia nodded expressing her consent.

“Haha, don’t be so depressed. I will be away only for a few days and I’ll be sure of bringing souvenirs for you.”

“Hmph, don’t be so narcissist!!!”

“Hahahahaha”

…

Once the pair ended the dinner, Lia proceeded to clean the table and Aiden took his saber at the courtyard to practice his sabersmanship. In the middle of the night, Aiden swung his saber constantly; from right to left and from above to below. Stepping around carefully, Aiden waved his saber like a dance well practiced, hiding a subtle killing intent in every movement. Submerged in his saber, Aiden forgot about his surrounding, not even noticing that Lia was also in the courtyard.

Aiden was definitively a genius. Born with an incredible spirit, a great talent for cultivation and a monstrous affinity for the saber, Aiden was the typical genius son blessed for the heavens.

And even now, with his spirit lost, during the last four years from the day when his spirit was stolen, his talent for the saber had continued blossoming each day. That is at the point where when he uses his saber, nobody in the mortal realm is probably his match. Perhaps because he dedicated every one of his frustrations at the saber, his sabersmanship had reached at a terrifying level after four years.

With his saber in both hands, Aiden continued his dance during the night, letting the breeze to stroke his face, dedicating all his heart at the saber, and once his body was too tired to move anymore, he stopped.

Clapping lightly, Lia spoke:

“That was very beautiful like always, young master.”

Holding a towel and helping to clean the sweat in Aiden’s face, Lia heard him saying:

“Thanks, Lia. Now that you say it, I feel like my saber had improved quickly in the last few days. Perhaps I will touch the boundary of the next realm very soon.”

Touching his saber, Aiden smiled thinly allowing for Lia to clean his face.

“I forgot to tell you, I already got all the ingredients to clean your meridians for the last time, Lia. I think we can do it tomorrow morning before I go to the forest.”

Lia blushed slightly thinking about the implication of the words, then shyly nodded.

“Okay young master, I will be in your care.”

Looking at the behavior of Lia, Aiden smiled and kept silent, leaving a dubious atmosphere surrounding both of them.