Author: I put the blame on my vacations… SORRY.
I’m not letting her training at the laps around the field part. I have added the martial arts tag to the story in the beginning however there will also be magic and things and other things…so I will use my own terms and system (which are completely different) to refer to everything. I don’t even intend to put the term “qi” in there since I feel that if I do that I will have to adjust the other terms too (and I’m not confident in that no matter how many Wuxia novels I have read… they aren’t that many in the first place)
Thanks for reading…
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Chapter 5
Two weeks had passed. During these very long weeks she had done all the things the man had told her to. Her stamina wasn’t that bad but now it had got considerably better. It was one of the few good points of her body, that she adapted to things faster than most (add to that that she was a kid still on her learning stages).
However, because of these past two weeks of getting tired to death, her impression on the man-ghost had got on a completely other level of suspiciousness and many times anger.
Why?
Because during the whole times she hadn’t seen the ghost at all excluding two-three times. He hadn’t been there, she knew that for sure.
Many times during her much-awaited-breaks when her muscles hurt like hell, she had started thinking that he might have just put her to do those things to laugh at her and she had cursed at the man-ghost out-loud. Seeing as he didn’t answer her taunts he probably wasn’t there. Knowing his highest and mightiest attitude he probably wouldn’t stand quiet after hearing them.
Then why wasn’t he there? She wondered this for awhile every time before her dead-like sleep took over.
This ‘training’ of hers, however, had become a part of her (unknowingly) and no matter how much she complained she still kept on. Because of this training she had become a little bit more positive (just a little) because while her body worked she focused only on that and hadn’t thought nor dreamt of her past.
…
It had been two weeks and she was starting to get a bit lonely. Unexpectedly enough she missed the chatter of the man-ghost.
“Stupid ghost.” She shouted this. These last few days she had played this game. She said something loudly enough and her voice echoed back.
Hearing her echoing this time she felt a bit satisfied. It felt a bit like there is this person you hate and you realize you’re not the only one. (They say the enemy of my enemy is my friend.) That’s how she thought of the echo, like a friend to keep her company. (Is it me or is this a sign of her going a little cuckoo in the head?)
“Who’s a stupid ghost?”
Speak of the devil. And then again what’s with the timing.
His voice was angry and in his semi-transparent head the girl thought she saw a vein but since the one before her was a ghost she wasn’t so sure.
Silence.
No one was saying a word. The man was clearly waiting for her answer but ghost or not she just didn’t want to anger him and felt right now like a guilty child that had pulled a prang at the wrong person.
“…I said toast… stupid toast... I miss eating it a little.” (Is that supposed to be a nice cover…well… it does rhyme)
“Oh..” (He believed that???!)
“…”
“Anyway take these.”
Only now did the girl notice that the ghost had things in his hands. He dropped them at her feet and she saw what they were.
Clothes.
She was surprised and that’s not all. No matter how she looked at them, they were brand new clothes and quite pretty at that, a pair of short pants in black color with a “V” embroidered in the right leg and a flame-red blouse with the same “V” on its back. The material was soft to the touch but it also seemed flexible.
He was giving these clothes to her? She didn’t remember wearing anything but her inseparable (from her) rags. She looked up at him wide-eyed. He in return watched her reaction.
“You don’t like them?’’ he asked her a little worried and seemingly uncomfortable.
“I love them.” She answered him immediately without a second thought.
His face showed signs of relief.
“Good. The geezer told me he could make you a dress since you are a girl but it’s easier to move in these clothes.”
She nodded, happiness clearly visible in her face.
‘Wait, what geezer?’
It was the second time he had mentioned it but she had no idea who this person was and hadn’t seen signs of another human or ghost around. As she was about to ask she was reminded of another thing.
“I thought you couldn’t touch things.”
“Oh that. It’s because of the soul energy that surrounds the clothes. I’m after all a ghost.”
“Soul energy?” (and this is how she once again totally forgot to ask about the geezer)
“Soul energy of the second gate of the human body, Gate of death.”
“Huh?”
She wasn’t getting a word he was saying. ‘Gate of death, soul energy? What the freaking hell are you talking about?’
The man noticed this and let out a sigh.
“Change into the clothes first. From today on we’ll be starting new lessons. It’s about time I get a little serious.”
Yes, he was serious. Whenever he got serious, she couldn’t help but get serious too.
She changed into her new clothes (as happily as a little kid…oh…she was a kid). They were very comfortable.
After that she hurriedly went after the ghost and sat cross-legged and looked at him expectantly. The man-ghost looked back at her and started talking.
“Today we will start with the basic knowledge.
Every living being in the world can practice martial arts.”
“Everyone? Wouldn’t the world be filled with martial artist then?” She said this with another ‘what the hell are you talking about’ face.
“To be able to do it and to actually do it, are two different things and even if you start doing martial arts to advance is a complete other matter.” He said this a little pissed off because of the interruption.
“…”
Seeing as she didn’t interrupt him this time the man kept talking.
“Every living being is able to practice martial arts because the moment one is born he opens the Gate of life and martial power comes from the gates. Now you’re going to ask what are the gates, right?”
The girl nodded.
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“…Well, in short is where your martial power comes from. In case of the Gate of life, it’s even where your life power comes from. Without it you die.”
*gulp*
“Magic power (mana?) also comes from gates but from different gates. The first of magic realm is the called the Gate of birth and it won’t always open when you’re born. If it doesn’t open when you’re born, there no chances (maybe) of it opening later so not everyone can do magic. You get me?”
She nodded again.
“Well, let’s get back to main point. Magic is for later.
The martial realm. As I said the first is the Gate of life and the second is the Gate of death. They both belong to the that big category that is called Truths of Body. To cultivate Truths of body is the very first and very important step to the martial realm.
When you enter the Gate of death you can use soul energy however it is not recommended to use it until you reach and understand Truths of Soul. In here there is only one gate, the forever-inseparable Gate of heart and mind. One might think why are they together however that is for the best…”
After stopping here for a while he observed the girl that was now watching him intently. Seeing the understanding in her eyes he continued.
“To have contradictions between your mind and heart causes one to lose control in many cases and a calm heart is what you need for martial arts thus they must stay together.
I warn you though, when one enters the Gate of heart and mind he grows a little… different… No, he might change completely. Feeling and thoughts grow stronger here. If one normally gets a little angry when he is pushed by somebody unintentionally, he might just become completely furious. If one normally gets sad because he breaks his favorite toy he might jus cry in complete agony if he has entered the Gate of heart and mind. It is the same for other feelings. Some people have even gone crazy.
However if you successfully cultivate in this Gate you learn the truths of the soul. What is left after the body dies will only be one’s heart and mind or with one word the soul. If you understand the soul you can use soul energy better, until then you’ll stick with life energy… No buts.”
“…Ok.” She was a little disappointed at that. When she learnt that he could touch soul energy she wanted to learn it as fast as possible. Why? To punch that ghost once for heaven’s sake.
The man-ghost noticed this (he does notice things he probably shouldn’t…as observant as ever) which is why he added the “no buts” at the end.
“After the Truths of Soul there comes the Truths of World. You can use the world energy however that is another story.
The first gate here is called Gate of other.”
“Huh?”
“Yes. This is also one of the gates where changes happen. The way you perceive people changes. Also if the energy until now was based in you and your body, when cultivating this gate you can get affected by others easily…”
Now she was looking at him confused.
“It’s kind of like magicians and their parties. They won’t make parties of a person that has fire attribute with one with water if possible, but one with fire and wind so that they complement each other.
In martial arts we can’t talk about attributes, but energy. Another’s energy can affect your own for good or for bad.
To breakthrough to the other gate here requires not only a lot of cultivation but you also have to master that particular skill of letting (or not) the other’s energy to interfere with your own by your own will. You can also learn to interfere with others… forcefully if needed. In the end it comes to the accumulated energy…”
“…But, there are different kinds of energy…Does it matter which one…?”
“I see what you want to know. I probably should have explained this first.” He said this somewhat thoughtfully.
“Hah” she snorted.
*pop* (And here I was wondering when would I get to see another popped vein)
“…Anyway, the energies.” He decided to ignore it for now.
“All the energies are one and the freaking same. The human is born thus he gains life and that life can be said in a way that it supplies the life energy. When you reach Truths of Soul the energy in your body transforms in soul energy. Life energy is still there, however, as a part of the soul energy. Soul energy being a little different begins to build its foundation when you are in the Gate of death, but while you are in that gate, life energy is still the one that occupies most of you source and it is at this stage separate from the soul energy thus if you use soul energy without entering the Truths of Soul you may damage your source. The world energy takes over only after you’ve entered the Truths of world. Yet again the life and soul energy become part of it. Do you understand?”
“I understand that you can’t really have a career as a teacher forgetting the most important thing.”
*pop*
“You little brat.”
Ok, he was angry but still holding himself and being all serious. It’s a good thing she left it at that.
“…….Anyway…The other gate is called the Gate of black and white.”
She eyed him suspiciously.
“Why?”
“The black and white stand for opposites, water and fire, air and earth, war and peace, light and darkness, heaven and hell. This gate is troublesome in many ways so let’s leave it at that.”
“Huh?”
*ignore*
“The last gate of the Truths of World is called Gate of world. Cultivating up to this point one can be called stronger than most.”
“Than most? There’s more??”
Silence.
He stayed like that for a while before talking.
“This one is different from the rest. You have to reach it to become the strongest… however it is the hardest to reach and the harshest after you do get to it. It’s called Truths of Being or Truths of Existence. First gate is the Gate of beginning. Last gate is the Gate of end, but there aren’t only these two. However I won’t explain it to you right now.”
“Why?”
“Why should I? My throat hurts from all that talking. We’ll leave it for some other time.”
He told the girl another thing with his eyes though ‘Don’t ask for it, not now’ and she understood it.
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