“I did it!” Wang shouted with joy, watching the dummy’s cracked chest. It did not turn into hundreds of splinters like Master Fu Kung’s punch did, but it cracked. He finally did it. He could even see the air that distorted around his fist as he punched.
He took a look at his body and noticed that it also reflected the new found power. Muscles that were more defined, slightly larger. He felt the strength, too, like a rock sitting in his chest.
“What was that noise?”
“It came from the training room!”
“Wang did it!”
Wang turned around to see the villagers gathering around the door, watching. Wide eyed and excited.
“I have reached the first step of the Iron Body,” he declared with a large grin that refused to go away. “I will move to the second step soon, and make Bedlam proud!” he bowed.
“We know you will!”
“Better late than never, boy.”
“Finally, you took your sweet time.”
They all came in and surrounded him, patting him on the shoulders and back. He blushed and scratched his head, it was the first time he got such recognition, in such a long time. He did not blame Bedlam’s villagers for cheering on the other three as they broke through. A single cultivator coming out of a rural village was enough to make its people rich and the village known, and maybe transformed into something larger.
They had four, now.
He could feel their jubilations, for he was part of it, now.
“Alright, alright, give him some space,” Su laughed as she moved inside, moving them away from him and shooing them out. “Everyone should go back to their work.”
“You are not being fair, Su,” someone said. “Just because you work with the physician…”
“Out!” she pointed, standing tall, her robes and hair fluttered like the wind passed through them. The people eventually obeyed and left, leaving the two of them alone. “I’m glad to see you are okay,” she said, eyes on the cracked dummy.
“All thanks to you,” he replied, the flush of earlier being replaced with a different type.
“It’s my job,” she replied instantly, and his heart felt like it was cracking when he heard that. Just her job. She pointed towards the wooden bowl that had a piece of bread and an apple before she continued. “You still need to rest and eat well, so you would be ready when the time comes.”
Wang frowned, “when the time comes for what?”
Su blinked a couple of times before she asked, “did you forget?”
“Forget what, what is it?” he asked.
“People who defy the mandate of heavens by cultivating have to face the tribulations heavens send upon them,” she said, “and before that, you would need to break through the second step, and into the third. You need to be prepared so you won't suffer from a choke point during your cultivation.”
Wang frowned and placed his hand on his chin. “The others broke to the second step, you said?” he asked.
“No,” she shook her head. “They are still trying to break through, which means you can still catch up with them.”
Wang could catch up with them, they are nearly all at the same power level, after all. It was true that they spent more time as a first step Iron Body practitioners, but apparently at the same level all that mattered was techniques and your chi’s pool – the dantian – which was now reinforced by the pills he consumed.
“I will provide you all with pills, later,” Su said as she walked away, “you should break into the second step, and hopefully third.”
“Yeah, thanks!” he waved excitedly before realizing that she said ‘you all’, which probably meant the other three. There went the advantage that he thought he had.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Su said, “Xiu claims he saw the legendary twin tailed rat king yesterday, and apparently it went into his room before fleeing into the village, so do keep an eye out.”
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He nodded and sat on the straw.
The legendary twin tailed rat king was a myth that Bedlam had for a long time. It was supposedly why Master Fu Kung came to the village in the first place. They all assumed he left because he could not find it, or perhaps because he found it.
The legendary twin tailed rat king was a legendary beast whose life core could increase your power many fold, its skin was the fluffiest of furs, its teeth and nails the sharpest of blades. Or so the legends went.
But if Xiu saw it?
This changed things.
He grabbed the piece of bread he kept in the wooden bowl, heeding the warning of him needing energy for the future. He could not wait to reach the point where he did not need water or food anymore. Not to mention his… utilities needs.
He heard a sharp squeak as he bit into the bread, however, and the voice made Wang jump.
“Can you spare some of that food for me?” the sharp voice asked.
Wang looked around, trying to find the source, but failed to.
“Down here,” the voice said.
He looked down and saw the creature, the legendary twin tailed rat king, with its glorious gigantic tail that was made out of two tails intertwining together into a beautiful, fluffy shape. Its red fur nearly glowed with energy and power, which made Wang worry. That was at least five times the chi he has right now. The creature, however, eyed his piece of bread greedily.
So Wang split a piece and tossed it towards the creature.
“Much obliged,” the rat king said, before holding the piece in its tiny arms and munching through it. It was hard to imagine this creature could destroy villages on a whim.
“Are you the legendary twin tailed rat king?” Wang whispered, voice shaking.
“None other,” the creature nodded, before it looked back, “my tail gave me away?”
“Amongst some other things,” Wang split out another piece of bread as the creature began eyeing it again.
“Are you planning on giving me tiny pieces all day long?” the rat king scoffed.
“What?” Wang blinked.
“Give me the whole thing already,” the creature demanded.
“You greedy little-” Wang grumbled before he remembered the stories, how the rat king once turned a man into stone, and his statue is now somewhere on top of the mountains. But his whole loaf of bread? He needed strength to start cultivating again.
“Fine,” the rat king sighed, and it sounded like a tight fart. “If you give me that loaf, I’ll teach you a combat technique.”
Wang nearly tossed the entire loaf immediately. A technique, just for a loaf of bread? It was an absurd thing to think about, the sort of thing that would make people cough blood and bleed coughs. “What is the catch?” he decided to ask.
“I’m just starving, there isn’t much food in the forest anymore,” the rat king climbed to the window and stared at the forest. “What is the point of hiding techniques if I am just going to die from starvation?”
Wang moved towards the window, mindful of the distance between them, and looked towards the forest.
“If you give me more food, I’ll even add my cultivation technique,” the creature smiled, revealing two buck teeth. “I am prepared to swear oaths to the nine heavens, too.”
Swearing oaths to the nine heavens made your word bond, as far as Wang was considered. Breaking a word of oath was as bad as trying to fight a god. The last time someone did it in Bedlam, his entire house vanished a few moments later. It was extremely horrifying.
“I only have the bread and an apple,” Wang told the creature.
“Then by my oath to the nine heavens,” the rat king said, “if you provide me with that loaf, and that apple, I will teach you a cultivation and combat technique!”
Wang smiled and offered the food to the tiny creature.
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Medical Observations: Josh (501)
David blinked as Josh jumped and shouted, “I did it!” so David leaned to the side and tried to see what Josh did.
The other patients were stirred by the shout, and began swarming into the room. They were an easily excited bunch when they weren’t being drugged.
“What was that noise?”
“It came from the training room!”
“Josh did it!”
Doctor David began feeling curious himself, so he decided to move to a point where he could see.
The wall padding was slightly ripped. He managed to rip the padding, somehow?
“I have reached the first step of the Iron Body,” Josh declared, “I will move to the second step soon, and make Bedlam proud!” he bowed.
“We know you will!”
“Better late than never, boy.”
“Finally, you took your sweet time.”
The other patients moved into the room and began showering him with compliments and warm feelings.
“Everyone go out,” Olga grumbled as she moved inside, tossing the people inside the room left and right, and they began scattering out of the room. “Go watch tv.”
“You are not being fair, nurse,” someone said. “Just because you work with the doctors…”
“Out!” she shouted, and they scattered as quickly as they gathered.
Olga spent a few moments inside the room disciplining Josh, telling him to rest, eat, and get ready for the new pills. The regular stuff. “There big tree rat in hospital,” she said as she was leaving. “William open window, it come in, now inside,” then she left.
David was surprised to see the squirrel in the room with Josh, and that the two were bonding over food. He was talking to the squirrel with great enthusiasm, too. He decided to not call the nurse on him just yet.
He sat, watching and taking notes.