The storm was close enough to feel now. The blinding brilliance of the lightning caused Atlas’s shadow to leap out in front of him every few moments and the constant rumbling of thunder filled his ears turning the landscape into a muted backdrop. The winds had now reached him, pushing against his back, light rain occasionally swept past him. Combined with the encroaching night the air had turned frigid and his breath lingered in the air.

When he looked back, he could see outlines of countless beasts within the shadows of the clouds. And amongst the clouds Atlas caught glimpses of a strange titanic creature, leather winged, with bright red beaks, claws, and hands?. All the creatures he saw seemed content to remain deep within the storm, not venturing into the little light at the front of the storm wall.

Atlas cursed as he blundered into another lapse in his cycling of the Body of Peerless. The frequency of his mistakes was decreasing as he continued to run but he still couldn’t maintain the technique consistently. Even if he could, it likely wouldn’t matter.

The odds of him making it to Tinith were virtually nonexistent. Thirteen miles separated himself from the city and the distance between Atlas and the storm was a quarter of the original. He had already covered twice the distance in thrice the time. Unless the storm slowed or he increased his speed by half, he was out of luck.

While his rational side knew the improbability of reaching Tinith, his smaller but extremely vocal instincts raged. Panic flowed through his veins, with the danger behind and safety ahead he was compelled to continue west. It was most likely the best course of action, but after been driven west in a state of panicked flight for days, he would have liked for a moment of calm to gather his thoughts.

Pushing himself to the limit had left Atlas in a state of contemplation. He had never given much thought to cycling qi. With most of his focus still devoted to maintaining the technique he reflected on the nature of cycling and techniques over many, many strides.

What is qi? I have read and heard many profound and fascinating theories describing the nature for qi. But crucially none are individually able to explain all of the properties of qi. Bah, focus.

What is qi? I don’t know nor do I need to know. The better question would be: What is qi in my body?

It was hard to put the concept of qi into words. Atlas tried to recall how he had been taught by his family and clan. He had been very young when he had last been taught by them but with some time Atlas formed a rough recollection.

“Dad: Lie down Atlas and close your eyes, imagine your body as a great land. Upon it lies a sea, that is your qi. Where the water goes it nourishes and is consumed by the land.

Atlas: I can see the land but there is only a small pond of qi. Is there something wrong with me?

Dad: Haha don’t worry, even a small amount of qi is impressive for a kid your age. At the moment you haven’t learned to control and reserve your qi yet. Most of your sea of qi is spread throughout your body like a shallow lake that covers the entire land. It is absorbed instantly as it nurtures the land evenly from the trees to the flowers and even to the weeds. Once you learn how to control…

Atlas: I don’t want to.

Dad:…

Atlas:…’

Atlas smiled a bittersweet smile. It had been almost four years since he had seen his parents. He missed them and the rest of his clan, friends and rivals alike. Before he had left home and journeyed to Tinith to find his own way.

Is this the end of my path? To die in a thunderstorm? There is so much I still haven’t done. I have done nothing to deserve this. Why was life so unfair?

Resentment and hatred welled up in his heart. He resented the forces of the world that had stripped him of his freedom. Here before the storm, he was held powerless.

“FUCK YOU”

Atlas raged against the heavens. At some point he had stopped and was now facing the encroaching storm wall. Profanities spilled from his words as he watched the storm.

An eternity seemed to pass.

No. I will not die here. My journey has barely begun and it will not end here. I owe as much as to preserve for my family and myself. The blood of the Chainbreaker run through my veins. If my forefather could go against the very heavens and force the Celestial Courts to yield I can at least survive a mortal storm.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Though Atlas’s resolve had strengthened, the real problem still lay before him. Even pushing himself at his limit he needed an extra hour or to generate more power from The Body of Peerless Strength. All this time trying to master The Body of Peerless Strength and save up coin for a war rig. Perhaps I would have been better buying and learning a running focused technique instead of a…

Atlas wanted to smack himself, the answer to his problem had been right in front of him the whole time. What is the focus of the Body of Peerless Strength? Most likely a training technique. Meaning that in effectiveness and efficiency it is quite poor. He had read about intentional bad techniques from his exploration into the library. These were usually a precursor of a formal technique or an amalgamation of the principle techniques of a sect. Taught to children and new inductees, they ranged from functional techniques with exaggerated elements to complete defunct techniques to teach basic concepts or to in the worst case useless techniques to weed out those less obedient. He had only continued to strive to master The Body of Peerless Strength as he believed that it contained essential teachings.

Ideally, he would switch to a movement-based technique, but he didn’t have one on hand nor was he sure he could use it to a sufficiently proficient degree. And so Atlas resolved himself to make do with what he had and to try to modify The Body of Peerless Strength.

Atlas cycled one full revolution of The Body of Peerless Strength including all of the physical aids, body movement, breathing and such. He paused, thinking. The body motions aren’t strictly necessary, they help with the understanding process of the technique and provide some minor benefits. Something akin to swinging my arms when running. His reasoning was a mix of intuition, observation, and written knowledge from his studies of ancient texts.

Atlas cycled another full revolution, this time only moving his qi and not his body. He frowned there was a noticeable loss in efficacy, he had to use around a tenth more qi for the same effect. Now to turn Body of Peerless Strength into a movement technique, maybe The Steps of Peerless Speed.

The Body of Peerless Strength was a vertically symmetrical technique splitting the body into a right and left cycle which mirrored one another. At the most basic level there was a path that the practitioner would have to guide their qi along. For The Body of Peerless Strength the cycle began at the first gate, located in the sternum, then out along the inner side of the arm all the way up to the wrist before returning along the back side of the arm, next crossing the upper back and down to the abs, after traveling down the front side of the leg all the way to the toes before traveling along the sole of the foot and back up the back side of the leg, finally ending in the middle of the lower back at the Third Gate, located in the middle of the back.

Atlas now cycled one revolution an abridged version of The Body of Peerless Strength, The Steps of Peerless Speed. He had cut out much of the original technique, namely the cycling of qi through the arms. Now the cycle began at the first gate, located in the sternum, traveling down his stomach, continuing down the front side of the leg all the way to the toes before traveling along the sole of the foot and back up the back side of the leg, finally ending in the middle of the lower back at the Third Gate, located in the middle of the back. While the overlying pattern had shifted Atlas didn’t alter the other facets of the technique. It is unwieldy and slightly unbalanced but feels stable enough.

Atlas began to take timid and hesitant steps, like a fawn’s first steps, all the while cycling The Steps of Peerless Speed. His hesitant step grew firmer and steadier as he slowly started his journey to Tinith again. Before long, his strides grew wide, and his motion became more confident.

The limitations of Atlas’s cycling of The Body of Peerless Strength were borne of the immense focus required, a mental focus that grew as the qi cycled through it increased. The Steps of Peerless Speed held the same limitations. The key difference lay in the reduced size of The Steps of Peerless Speed which was two thirds of its original size and consequently reduced the mental strain by the same margin. Now he could push more qi into The Steps of Peerless Speed until he reached his mind’s capacity. Qi which he had more of thanks to the three spirit pearls left on his person.

For a moment all was well, Atlas’s mood soared, now he could make it. Then he took a tumble as The Steps of Peerless Speed fluctuated uncontrollably.

Not again!

As his went out under him he fell sprawling across the road. Atlas had lost track of how many times he had ate sand.

So my new invention needs a little bit of calibration and polish. Good thing I have some eleven more miles to work out the kinks.

Atlas spun up The Steps of Peerless Speed again. This time though he barely made it a step forward before the technique collapsed. …Maybe a lot more work to fix the technique.

Atlas fell into a cycle of actions as he cycled The Steps of Peerless Speed on his way west to Tinith. He would make some distance on his journey, then his technique would fail, after pondering on the technique and making adjustments he would start running again.

At first, he could scarcely make ten steps before the technique failed. Where the many hurdles and falls had disheartened Atlas before, they now drove him forward. The pain of falling and knowledge from failure pushed him to improve The Steps of Peerless Speed. As time went on the steps grew, to the tens, then the hundreds, till they grew too large to count. The storm drew nearer and as too did Tinith.

A moment of time passed, as short as a breath and as long as a day. Atlas lost in his strive to improve his technique. Then the peak of the Spire, first of the Six Pillars, came into view along with the great canopy of the Maan Tree, fourth of the Six Pillars. Before long the high wall of the Shield of Tinith lay before him.

Safety.