“Interesting…” Gordanus began, before trailing off, staring at Sam for a few moments. “I had already sensed the level of your Daos before but they are unusually potent. It is as if you have achieved a stage that is one step beyond your current level in your Daos. Also, the fact that you have multiple Daos at this stage is quite impressive.”

“What does that mean for me?” Sam asked, trying to play off the whole thing. He knew that Gordanus probably wished him no harm, but it was better to be cautious around a man that could end him in the blink of an eye. Gordanus kept his true power hidden for most of the time, but Sam knew that it was there, like an iceberg lurking below the tiny shard of ice that Sam could see. There was far more to Gordanus than an easygoing alcoholic.

“It means that it’s time to do some Dao training. You noticed that I could overpower your Dao, right? Well, doing so will allow you to strengthen your Dao against those of other cultivators, even if your Dao itself does not become much stronger.”

“Sounds plausible, Master. When can we get started?” Sam responded, eager to keep training. Anything that he could do to progress was welcome.

“Right now.”

Sam woke up some time later, not sure what exactly had happened to him. His head ached fiercely, and his core stung as if it had been bathed in acid. As he swam back to consciousness, the figure of Gordanus grew clearer in his vision, until he was able to see the man standing above him.

“Wha… What just happened?”

“I unleashed my Dao energy on you. Clearly, you were not ready,” Gordanus replied, looking a bit sheepish. “I probably should not have used my full power. You were unable to stand against it.”

Sam got to his feet slowly, rubbing his helmet. Falling with his armor on had mashed his body into the highly durable steel, causing him to feel a bit stiff. He decided to take off the armor while he was within this cave. As he started to peel the armor off, he sighed.

“I need to keep going,” Sam said, his voice steely. “I came here to train, and I’ll be damned if I don’t.”

“You might die if you stress yourself too much. The Dao is not like a muscle. It cannot be healed.”

“Look, Master. I have less than a month now to grow powerful enough to kill an E Ranker. A bit of danger of pain is not going to stop me. I can either die here trying, or die when I get back to Earth. I don’t really have much of a choice here,” Sam said, raising his voice a little bit.

“I’m going to ignore your disrespect in the light of what you just said,” Gordanus responded, frowning. “ But, did you say you need to kill an E Ranker? Why the hell would the System send something like that to your planet this early? It’s been what, two months?”

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“Our integration was what you might call unique. I am partly to blame for that, I suppose,” Sam answered, being vague on purpose. He did not want to steer this conversation into territory regarding anything to do with the more heretical aspects of his Dao connection.

In any case, Gordanus seemed mollified by this, and the man nodded, starting to gather his Dao around himself. Sam gritted his teeth and started to gather his own Dao energy, weaving it into a shield around himself. This time, he tried to make it as powerful as he could, eyeing up the other man’s preparations eagerly. Gordanus had a Dao related to some concept that Sam could not easily place given his overwhelming power. However, it had something to do with force, or some similar ideal.

Sam mustered his own Dao, trying to cast it in an oppositional light, molding its concept in his mind as a form of defending rage, bolstered by his subordinate Dao of Resolve, which served well for this purpose. A metaphysical shield of red and blue light formed around him, and he widened his stance, waiting for Gordanus to attack.

The other man brought his Dao down like a hammerblow, crushing Sam into the ground beneath its weight. He almost blacked out immediately, but he managed to keep himself conscious, fighting to draw as much power out of his Dao as he could. Sam rose slowly, grinding his teeth so hard that they creaked. His own Dao was pressed all the way back down to his core, and he could barely stand, let alone muster an effective defense. It was still better than last time though.

The ground underneath him started to crack from the energies being channeled in his position, and Sam roared out loud, trying to thrust the oppressive blanket of foreign Dao energy off of himself. His core started to blaze brighter as he drew upon its conceptual abilities, using his rage to empower himself. Using his Dao skills helped to alleviate the pressure somewhat, and he was eventually able to make a tiny space around himself with his Dao that allowed him to breathe a bit easier. He regarded Gordanus, who appeared to be stunned.

“You… You’ve got to do better than that,” Sam forced out through his lips, struggling to speak through the roiling power that was trying to force him into the ground.

Gordnaus nodded, and the pressure on Sam doubled, causing him to cry out in pain as his leg cracked. Gordanus started to withdraw the pressure, but Sam shook his head at the man, signaling for him to keep going. With a worried look. Gordanus resumed the pressure, allowing Sam to practice. It was too strong at this point for him to have a hope of defeating, but he was still able to endure, preventing it from reaching his core like it had last time. He was unable to move his Dao beyond the walls of his corespace, but he was able to keep it mostly out of the important parts of his body, which was a plus.

His Dao energy was draining in torrents at this point, and he eventually ran out, causing him to signal for Gordanus to stop. The Dao field around him suddenly dissipated, and he stumbled backwards, unused to being held by only the force of gravity. Goirdanus raced over to him, blinking across the air in an instant, and caught him before he fell.

“Impressive. You managed to fend off my full might, at least while I was not focusing on my Dao too much. You improved very quickly, quicker than I had expected. What gave you the idea to use your Dao skills to help yourself resist?”

“I’m not sure. It kind of just came to me, “ Sam said weakly, already beginning to heal over from his body’s natural regeneration.

He gritted his teeth, struggling to rise. Gordanus kept him down however, the man preventing him from injuring himself further.

“You need to rest. I command you to do so, as your mentor. If you don’t I’ll have to knock you out again.”