Seeing Allan's body, there was nothing that indicated the possibility of the soul-fire residing inside of his body. It was as if the soul-fire disappeared from the world, making a new place of living, inside of this mortal.
“Perhaps it is lazy or shy?” Sarey assumed a little hope, feeling some sort of strange sentiment towards it.
That strange creature which resembled a ball of fire led her to wonder about the bigger world. The kind which was so close to the tips of her fingertips, yet infinitely far away.
Although, its world wasn't the only thing for that. She met with the soul-fire a few times, with each of them being very brief. It still left her expectant of it and considering it to be a new friend could be even called a stretch of her words.
Allan pulled back the palm, which stopped bleeding in the expectation of the summoning.
In a few moments, which went to a minute or two, a gust of wind filled everything with dust, leading to the light of energy.
It soon entered the vision of a portal, which was the flat surface of rigid stillness. The appearance of the wooden figurine cleaved the portal open, revealing the appearance of the wooden figurine which entered the flow of space, reaching a new world.
With a thud, it fell down the rocky earth that made this ground.
“Greetings mister 36.”
“Hello, again 36.”
Greetings sounded, and the voice of 36 began to echo from this figurine as well.
“It is a bit earlier this time around. What is it this?” 36 asked, figuring something went wrong since he started calculating the times much more frequently.
“Nothing strange. Just a regular check of yours is more than sufficient and I figured why not do this.” Sarey said.
“While that is true, I have a particular idea of finishing this part of the training within the next couple of days. What do you think about it?” Allan asked.
“I see. Finishing that is fine as is since your progress was steady. But, before that, what about the process of climb and stones that you found hard?” 36 asked, unbothered about the river training because William was more or less done with that already.
36 told them some time ago that some would find no finishing lines within those 3 training. Since they were kinds of training methods where time was irrelevant. One could also say that any kind of ending result would be sufficient, but not for 36 who was grooming Allan to undergo extremely intense Trials.
So far in, he watched Allan quite a few times as he trained by the water, climbed, or even hit the rocks. Thought that he was more than enough to call it a success was within his mind, but a wonder of the days was always there. After all, it wasn't that long since he started at all.
As for the rest of the Training methods he had in mind, this was a little bit more complex than he made it out to be. Sarey and himself knew the kind of results and expectations each of them had. It was perhaps a day when he could manifest it all out and take care of this training once and for all, but who would see the future? 36 was happy that it was going well for a long time, but what kind of power could Allan achieve in the short term?
“Very well Allan. Since you are so eager about the future or getting rid of this training, how about you show me exactly how you will finish it?” 36 voiced his curious, and hearty question.
Allan had already prepared himself for something like this. Words were unnecessary for this since the action could speak thousands of words.
Walking over the close boulder, he checked if it would be well enough. This one wasn't the hardest he did, as he recently went through many changes. One he had chosen had a small amount of dried blood on there, but otherwise no cracks at all.
Allan pushed his left hand forward and twisted his hips and pronounced his quick jab forward. Moving it forwards with all body weight, he pushed his best strike against this rock.
Booosh!
Boulder was pushed backward by his blunt force. It was a very forward hit with his bare and flat fist. Unsurprisingly, he noticed nothing strange about his attack. So, he went with the following barrage of punches, elbows, knees, and kicks with almost every knuckle on his body.
Imagination could run wild from the countless possible routes the human body could attack. Allan was getting used to it, but it was in no way as effective for real combat. Allan wasn't aware of them all since he never needed to attack another human. Rock, this time, was his perfect choice of target, but the kind which was harder than a human body.
Continuing it for more minutes, Allan long figured out the key elements of the Unmoving technique which went into many parts. One had to have a tough mind than the body itself. It acted as some form of psychological barrier that one had to manage, but doing so wasn't that easy. It was just a brief mention of going further with this technique. At least, according to Sarey's word, he had no choice but to trust her.
Bang!
Bang!
Allan continued with this rock for almost 10 minutes. Changing some ways from time to time, he made some wider attacks which led him to catch his breath.
No crack or the way the boulder stood indicated any damage, but some wounds appeared around his limbs. As expected, Allan knew that this rock was tremendously hard and impossible to crack for the time being.
“Phew! I can tell that there is simply no damage, but not so much for me.” Allan said, feeling defeated, and choosing to stop right there.
Wearing a loose robe-like jacket that was open around his chest, he appeared vigorous with this attire, which Sarey brought to him for this training. It was cheap working clothes since Allan destroyed his clothes every so often. Other than that, his attire was very easy to work in, and rough trousers were free to move in. Without any obstacles, he punched and attacked as he saw fit.
As for the feet, they had regular shoes which were a little bit worn from the attack, but still manageable for up to 10 days of using them. It was an expense. The kind which Allan understood, but Sarey always gave him a new pair. 36 induced one time that he may as well train without shoes, but Allan dismissed it since he doesn't want to hurt his feet that bad. He still had to walk, at least. Any kind of broken finger on your feet would be a pain to work with, so the shoes were excellent.
“Not enough kiddo.” 36 said with a hint of mockery.
“I am being stuck with this rock for days and days. How is it normal to crack and destroy this sort of stone?” William argues, pointing toward the rock beside him.
“You lack a form, proper posture, use of your body weight, and countless other things.” 36 gave him words that he told him many times, but never a proper solution.
“What kind of form or thing do I need? You never told me much about it” Allan argued, kicking the innocent rock to ease his mind. “You told me the way I attack is a little rough. I get it it is rough but otherwise passable when it comes to change and angles.”
“I...”
“... you'd did tell me that!” Allan shouted, not wanting to hear another argument against his own words.
“Right... I know. What I can tell you are some different things that you need. The inner form is something different than the way you form your body attacks. Expecting a good strike can vary a lot, and making use of your movements is the right way to fix it. Try to form your strikes in a way where it goes like flowing water. High, slow, and unmoving until the end. Releasing this power at a rapid moment, with utmost power.” 36 revealed the kind of information that didn't reveal much, but enough for Allan to figure out the rest.
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Allan couldn't understand what he meant, but accepting his words was a bare minimum. Only an attempt would lead somewhere, so he faced the rock once again, while Sarey and 36 went back to their conversation.
“Like flowing water which is unmoving? How does it make sense?” Allan thought in confusion. “Water is in a constant process of changing, flowing, and always moving within gravity or whatnot. For my attacks to possess this sort of movement...Oh!” Allan suddenly had a hit of some understanding.
It was a memory. One which he remembered from a long time ago. It was about some occasion in the city of Waan, where he saw a public pit fighting when he was younger. It was entertainment, and at the same time, recruitment opportunities for the local military. Some soldiers, marines, and other folks wanted to share their abilities to brawl with each other. This was an event, to which many kinds of kids found some attraction. In one fight, Allan remembered seeing moves that were strangely shaped. They seemed light, almost too light. Yet, with a few attacks, the striker achieved the victory with what seemed like no afford.
Only an expert could understand a little bit of the technique that came with such a victory. After all, the user of the strikes was a much smaller man than his opponent. Lean, but with a tight and small muscular build, he managed to achieve something great, with many years of training.
Allan thought it was something similar to what is 36 trying to tell him, so he fell into a storm of ideas. That included patting the rock, and thinking about it in silence.
“It was a relaxed posture of hands that made his attack quite unexpected and fast. It was unlike a regular brawl, where two opponents more or less expect to hit each other. That one, was akin to having a sheathed sword, while the opponent didn't know when he would strike. I suppose it came from the center of gravity while incorporating some form of movement with the back, shoulders, or something like that. It could mean that the hand itself needs to be firm, while the rest of the arm, shoulder, and a motion as a whole needs softness.”
With that, Allan assumed an even looser position where he laid his arms by his hips. Standing one step before the rock, he took a few deeper breaths. Then he began to shake his arms back and forth while also jumping with the pattern of his shaking.
Swoosh!
Allan, in a single, unexpected fashion, smacked and unleashed a hit against the rock. It was very similar to how he would use the quick swing by the blade.
A small cracking line was formed on the rocky surface but a small line of blood was there too.
“Bravo! That was very impressive for the first time. I didn't expect you to get it so fast just from my horrible hint.” 36 sudden words surprised Allan, who spoke with underlying ridicule aimed at himself.
Pulling his hand back, he felt some pain around his finger, but he wanted to try another one. So, he did, but this time, a little different. The rock was hard, causing another strike to be quite painful. Allan's quick movements went against him. The side of his hand and his pinky finger didn't look that great. There was even a cut, which went through his lower forearm. It was a kind of different wound that he had not previously encountered. The kind where he hit the rock as he always had had more forwardness, but this one didn't. He used the softness of his hand to achieve that movement, which in return, damaged his body more.
Unbothered by his injury, 36 continued with his words. “This is known as a type of strike known as the Body Whip Technique. Remember it well and practice it from this day onwards because this is the first Martial Art that I am going to teach you. Even energy users are practicing this technique for a wide variety of its use. Its intricate methods are even more complex than some Immortal Technique because of its flexibility and ability to move.” 36 explained a brief overview of the brand new method he planned to teach him from all of this training. Surprisingly, he went it sooner, which was great in his opinion, since time was his big limitation.
“Body Whip Technique?” Allan asked, intrigued by the name of that Martial Art, as he had never heard that name before. “Is it akin to using the inner strength of a body with the fast movements of muscles and joints to produce a weapon like strikes?”
“Exactly. The human body could very well be called a tool of war and killing. No one knows for certain, but the countless ages went through the process of forging human bodies and techniques to master the natural ways of goings against the heavens. Martial Arts are akin to a fundamental method of doing so. They all revolve around all kinds of techniques that take some form of research. Body Whip Technique is like that.” 36 talked exaggeratedly. Forgetting himself, he told nothing of importance to what Allan would find useful.
“Alright, I will train in this technique,” Allan says, checking his arm with his other hand since the bleeding was quite severe. Though, he already feels the distinct feeling of shimmering heat coming to the effects. The mysterious healing factor of the soul-fire was about to solve this small problem.
“Good idea. Go on then. I think Sarey is rather keen on our discussion now, so carry on with your training as usual” 36 dismissed Allan, who in return, thought nothing of that.
From time to time, he was shooed away, so 36 and Sarey had their conversations. He never knew what went with their discussions but it was a longer kind of talking. Each time they held it, he was prone to spying on them thanks to his keen ears, but he rather focused on his training. A small amount of privacy was great, but he was one to think about that. After those years of spying on his father, it was a kind of hypocritical for him to worry about it.
In truth, it was Sarey's forceful nature that made 36 give up and accept the promises he made a long time ago. The one where they met for the first time, and he made some unimportant promises he thought would disappear after some time. It was wrong since Sarey wasn't one to forget things.
Going away, Allan figured he would leave them alone, so he found some other rocks so he could have his training done for today. It would be around an hour for their discussion to end, so he had plenty of time.
Patting along the way some stone, Allan was trying to figure out their shape and mass. A few pats were enough for him to understand how heavy, hard, and big it was. Smaller rocks would crumble apart from his strikes and wider and taller ones would be broken after a few tries with his knees or elbow strikes. As for the biggest, they were hard for him to even crack.
The human body was a marvelous thing for combat. Some people would have genetics more suitable for that than others. The bone structure could hardly be changed because all humans were born in certain ways. It included a side of mortals since the world of immortal figures wasn't something for Allan to understand. It was something that would be significant later, and his Unmoving technique included it too. Allan remembered the few things 36 said when it came to the body forging pathway. The Ones, to be precise, and some things about the Body Forging pathway. He said their names in one exciting moment of his mistake, or agitation thanks to his anger issues.
Making some sense of it, Allan had at least the choice to know more, since the origin of the Diary of the Body was still a mystery to him. He had a hunch that the peak of immortal pathways was anything but ordinary. Well, it went without saying, of course. He had seen what an Immortal can do, but what about a Body-Forging Immortal? From 36's words, they sounded crazy powerful, but hard to train and improve their paths. Yet, there was something Allan didn't consider. One chance of his, that was considerable. Not so far away, a book lay there on the ground. The kind that could potentially lead to the strength that could move planets, or so he thought.
Only time would tell what that would look like. It sounded like an exaggeration to him, but Allan had no choice but to take it with a grain of salt. It was 36 that talked about it, so that went without saying.
Founding a few potential heavy rocks, Allan began the practice of the Body whip technique according to his one-time experience. In the upcoming days, he would nurture himself to get familiar with this technique, reaching the first step of the initial stage within it.
Allan recently learned from 36 how progression with ways certain techniques worked. Some sense was finally revealed to him from the darkness of the unknown words that Immortal used for millions of years. Perhaps it was Sarey's nagging that made 36 slip up, causing him to open up with such information that spoke volumes of how they even worked.
The majority of techniques were made into parts, stages, or steps. This goes even to the Cultivation itself, but that wasn't something 36 talked about. For now, the method of discerning the Martial Arts was enough for Allan to be happy. Those were the initial, intermediate, advanced, and peak expertise within the stages of Martial Arts.
Calling it a simple method was enough since it involved a few words which could then lead to the chart of progression. Such information could cause progress from one stage to another to become much simple, and most Martial Arts used this method.
Back then, it was as if his eyes were opened up since it was something Allan was always curious about. How Martial Arts of the bigger word could even work, or if there was even some sort of system?
Now, he knew, yet Allan couldn't help but be secretly upset from not knowing it much earlier. Not like it was something mandatory to know, but it was the case of 36's nature, where some words about it wouldn't hurt. It essentially gave him nothing, but some broadened mind, which would pose no issue for his progress whatsoever. an easy method to go along with his pathway.
After knowing that, Allan figured after finishing this training, he will reach the initial stage of the 1st chapter of The Unmoving technique. As for what the chapter meant? That wasn't something Sarey, nor 36, revealed to him. Though he knew there was something about them, that was incredible. For the lack of terms or reason, 36 revealed there are 6 Chapters, with rather old, or partial Chapters to 7th, 8th, 9t, and almost nonexistent information about the 10th Chapter.
So far, what he had done was hardly a part of the real training towards Body Forging. It was more about something that any kind of mortal could do. As subjective as it sounded, of course, since not many mortals would finish this rock smashing with their bare fists. Their body would get broken in a single day.
For now, Allan will adjust to this new way of his future, where his progression could lead to understanding. Extending and improving his foundation would lead to more stages, Chapters, and so on.
It was the beginning of something greater, and he can't wait to reach higher parts, improving his life.