Yujin loved the Traveler’s marketplace.

He had from the first moment he saw it as a child. There was a wonder to the colorful stalls and strangers and infinite variety that had destroyed his young mind. Filled with visiting merchants and traders’ from across the Blackflame Empire, or at least it seemed that way to a child who had never ventured more than a day’s travel from his home. It was a wonder that had never truly faded during the rare visits he was allowed growing up.

As an inner disciple of the Flowing Blade sect, he’s ability to leave the sect grounds was strictly limited. The sect was almost a village unto itself, acres of forest and gardens, homes and training halls, all interconnected with flowing stone paths. A child could spend most of their life in the sect’s land without growing bored or restless, which Yujin in fact had. The sole exception to that was the marketplace.

Gossip of what was or might be found was rampant amongst the sect’s younger members. Older disciples often bragged about what they found for sale to their juniors, regardless of if they were able to but it or not. The newest fabrics from Blackflame City lay just two stalls down from sacred instruments forged in the Skysworn armories of Stormrock. Sweets and confections were constantly being reinvented and offered in limited quantities as the city’s three major baking guilds waged a bloodless but cruel war for the attention of the city’s youth, fueled by the many fruits, flours and sugars brought in weekly by fresh merchants.

But for Yujin, there was only one part of the market that captured his heart.

Food from across the entire continent having miraculously found it’s way into the myriad stalls. Carefully regimented rows of fruit marched between the pastel dunes of spices. Freshly hunted spirit beast carcasses dangled from hooks above the choicest cuts as their sellers hawked the many benefits their particular meats would bring to sacred artists’ cultivation. The auras of the it all swirled into a rainbow of possibility and aura Yujin could swear was visible even before he’d achieved his Copper sight.

His fellow disciples drooled over rare Skysworn blades and exotic spirit beast bindings, but Yujin never had eyes for anything the culinary possibilities laid out before him. Today’s trip, the first of many, was no exception.

It was a reward afforded him by both his mother and Elder Lai for having reaching the peak of Copper just a few days prior. Only three other students in his class had managed to reach that level of cultivation before him, all considered prodigies. It was still almost six months before his thirteenth nameday, when advancement to Iron would be permitted. Of the other three, only one was younger than him. It was considered a mark of distinction and genius to be prepared for Iron prior to the minimum age set by the First Patriarch. Sufficiently impressive that until his advancement to Iron, Yujin was excused from the majority of his cultivation requirements and also permitted to accompany a qualified guardian outside the sect compound.

His mother was such a qualified guardian. One who made twice weekly trips to the marketplace.

Yujin had thought the moment he was allowed to incorporate fire madra into his path was the happiest he would ever feel.

Yujin had been wrong.

Every week was going to feel like that now.

“You know you’re going to be coming here quite a bit.” Shin Yau Yuji said, smiling over her shoulder. “I hope you won’t be standing there staring every time.”

“Just…” Yujin paused. “Just taking in the moment. A few years ago, I wasn’t even ready for Copper, and here I am, rewarded for being early to Iron. It feels good.”

“Good. It should. You’ve made your father and I very proud. You should hear him, the way he brags to the other members of his patrol group. And anyone else that will listen.” Yuji shook her head. “But enough of that. Today is your day. How would you like it if I taught you how to find properly fresh ingredients?”

Yujin grinned. Just when he thought the day couldn’t get better.

What followed felt like a glimpse of the enlightenment would-be Sages were said to pursue. At each stall Yuji visited, she shared a portion of its secrets. Some fruit had to be squeezed, others smelled, a few even listened to. Five minutes were spent finding petal plums at each stage of ripeness, so Yujin could feel them all. Meat was smelled, squeezed,and weighed, then re-weighed properly as Yujin’s mother pointed out the ill-concealed weights attached to certain scales.

While carrying the majority of their purchases back, (”It’s excellent training, Yujin.”) Yujin realized he felt, possibly for the first time in his life, intimidated. Even when he’d struggled with his childhood cultivation, there had always been instructions on what to do next. Someone to point out what was wrong and how to fix it.

But this…

This felt like a glimpse into an ocean. There was simply so much to know and learn and see and smell and things he almost certainly didn’t even know to do yet. And that ocean of correct knowledge was dwarfed by all the ways he could misjudge or be fooled, by either the food itself or unscrupulous sellers.

It was a thought that stayed with him.

His mother could only take him twice a week. Ingredients weren’t always consistently available. They couldn’t only spend time inspecting new ones either, they had to buy what they needed. And all of that would be ending in less than a year once he advanced to Iron and a whole new training regimen began.

There just wasn’t enough time.

The thought stayed with him the walk home.

It stayed with him through the afternoon’s training and Iron body preparation stretches.

It stayed with him as he prepared dinner in silence, as Kasi looked on.

“Why did you do that?” She asked, breaking his contemplation as well as his kitchen cycling technique, which was well on its way to becoming instinctive.

“Do what?” Yujin continued dicing, as time was a bit of a factor at this point.

“You put the onions in already.” Kasi tilted her head toward the sizzling wok. “Mom always puts them all in together. Why did you put the onions in first?”

“Onions cook differently, especially when they’re all mixed up with other things.” Yujin gestured between the wok and the cutting board. “If I cook the onions first, without all these, they’ll taste much better at the end without having to overcook everything else.”

“Ok.” Kasi tilted her head the other way, a habit that had begun developing at the same time as her incessant questioning. “Then why did you put them in before you finished dicing all the rest? Now you have to hurry and the onions might burn if you’re slow.”

“Just because an adult does it, doesn’t mean it’s the right way. It’s more efficient my way.” Yujin paused dicing to glance over the onions and give the wok a shake. “If I do the onions first while still dicing, I can keep the counter free of clutter, have more time for presentation, and have everything come out just right at the same time. Sometimes you have to combine two steps in order… in order to…”

Yujin’s words and dicing trailed off, his eyes darting between the cutting board and the stove, mind racing. It was a possibility he’d never considered before, never heard of anyone else in the sect trying, but as he’d just told Kasi, adults didn’t always do the right thing. Even Elder Lai had instructed them to pursue ‘flexibility in all things’.

It couldn’t possibly be that easy, could it? There must be a reason I can’t have both…

“In order to what?” Kasi asked, head tilting forward.

“In order to get things right.” Yujin answered as he reflexively resumed dicing.

Yujin remained silent through dinner, as he planned out what to say to Elder Lai tomorrow. He didn’t even noticed the burnt onions the rest of his family politely ate around.

******************

“Elder Lai, I would like to request you advice on an alteration to my path.”

“Well, I can’t say that I’m surprised.” Elder Lai smiled at his genuflecting disciple, “Our sect library has a number of texts on techniques for developing Iron bodies to better handle fire madra and the heat that comes with it. Let me give you a list to start with.”

“Many thanks, Elder.” Yujin bowed a hair deeper. “I’m certain those will be incredibly useful. However, I was hoping to pursue something more… unconventional, beyond just handling fire madra…”

********************

It was finally time to advance.

The preparation for fire madra had been the worst.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Months of intensive heat training. Submerging himself into scalding waters. Striking warm stones, searing sand, and, eventually, fresh coals with his bare hands. Most recently, two weeks of actual burns, placing his hand into flame while simultaneously drawing in its madra.

The preparation of his hands had been less physically painful, but far more emotionally taxing.

A re-doubling of painful stretching exercises in his hands and arms. The last month, his arms and hands had reached the point of near uselessness from the damage to his tendons. He been forced to postpone both his sword training and, far worse in his opinion, all his cooking.

At last, he was here, kneeling across from Elder Lai, ready to take the last step.

The most terrifying one. And not just for how painful it was going to be.

Even the careful fracturing of every bone in his hands, which Elder Lai just completed, paled in comparison with what he was about to inflict upon himself.

“So, disciple Yujin,” Elder Lai asked, setting the half-silver hammer on the table between them. “How do you feel?”

“I am resolute, Elder.” Yujin’s voice was tight with pain as he gave the required response. He gently cycling his madra through the fractured bones, checking that the breaks were evenly distributed through the bones of his hands.

Ascended above, my hands!

Yujin couldn’t help the agonized thought, even though he knew the situation to be temporary. And necessary. Well, necessary for his goal.

“With this, we have reached the end of the preparations created by our First Patriarch, to forge a Steel River Iron body.” Elder Lai’s voice had taken on new formality, as he addressed not just Yujin, but those others gathered in the room for his advancement ceremony. “However, disciple Yujin has chosen to step from our Path of the Flowing Blade, onto one of his own making. Before we begin, the disciple will once again reiterate the intention of his path, before family and clan.”

“Disciple Yujin!” Elder Lai barked. “You seek to leave the Path?”

“I do.” Yujin gritted his teeth. Wish we could have done this before the bone breaking part.

“You have brought fire madra into your core. What will this bring to your path?”

“I seek to control my battlefield beyond simply the reach of my blade. There are many things elemental madra can do that a sharp edge cannot.”

Both technically true. Yujin couldn’t help thinking honestly, even when he couldn’t bring himself to speak truth aloud. Not my fault they’re mistaken what my true battlefield and opponents are.

“Good.” Elder Lai responded, and Yujin saw nods ripple through some of the watching crowd. It wasn’t unheard of for a poor answer to bring the ceremony itself to a halt. “You have also sought a change almost never asked before. I would have you explain yourself to your sect.”

“I believe that the five senses are being underutilized in our bladework. Beyond just our spiritual sense, a heightened sense of sight, hearing, touch, even smell and taste, can bring value. I will attempt to enhance these senses, far beyond what the current Steel River body offers.”

Also still true. I said bladework, not swordwork.

“This change has been approved by the Sect’s instructors and Elders. To the best of our knowledge, the disciple’s proposed additions to the Iron advancement will work.” Elder Lai said, still speaking with the weight of ceremony. “However, no living Elder or disciple has attempted this. As such, there will be no assistance, no guided madra, no aid if your advancement were to go wrong. Knowing this, do you still wish to carve your own Path?”

“I do.”

More than anything.

“Very well then,” Elder Lai gestured his hand across the table between them. Two decorative boxes, a number of sealed bottles, and a large tied-off pouch lay beside the hammer. “Your required Sacred Treasures and ingredient lay before you. You may proceed when ready.”

Yujin gulped, before opening the leftmost box. He knew the pouch was what he should be using first, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. He needed to leave it as long as possible.

A soft, white glow spilled out from the box, and he drew out two stones that were the source of the light. Repositories of light madra, leaking a small fraction of what they contained within.

Hands shaking, Yujin lifted them to his eyes, carefully positioning them over his eyes. Yujin let out a long, slow breath, before sending a pulse of his own madra through his hands, triggering the release of all the madra contained within.

He wasn’t sure how long he screamed, but he knew he did.

After Yujin collected his thoughts, he tried to look around the room. There was not much to see. The room had transformed into a collection of blurred shapes and shadows, with the occasional brilliant light flaring up without rhyme or reason. That had been so much worse than rubbing his eyes to see stars. Yujin thought he be seeing movement around where he thought his family had been seated, but couldn’t tell.

Hushed murmurs were the only evidence left that he wasn’t alone, which reminded him, through the pain, that he wasn’t done yet. Fortunately he could still see just enough to make out the rough shapes on the table. Fumbling hands opened the second box and pulled out another two stones.

These had easily been the most difficult and expensive Sacred Treasures to acquire of this entire ordeal. Despite all his efforts the past few months, Yujin had been unable to find any actual ‘Sound’ madra, or even confirm if it truly existed. However, there had been a number of resources on Paths that required particularly sensitive hearing. This had led him to the solution in his hands, a careful mixture of wind and illusion madra.

Once activated, an illusion technique would be released. Anyone within a few inches of the stones would be convinced they were hearing a deafening cacophony. However, as an illusion, his physical body would technically remain unharmed, which was why the wind madra would be vibrating in such a way as to physically inflict the damage his ears were convinced they were experiencing.

The madra containers vibrated faintly in his hands, as Yujin placed one over each of his ears and sent another pulse of madra.

It wasn’t clear if he screamed or simply collapsed, but when his head stopped spinning, he sprawled across the ground. He was fairly certain he was weeping, from the wetness on his face

Why isn’t anyone helping me? Yujin’s thoughts were muddled. Oh, right, the Iron advancement. No one can help me.

Yujin levered himself back up. There were no more murmurs to be heard, only a loud ringing filled the grey room he could no longer quitesee. He moved his jaw several times, tried to speak, but nothing disrupted the constant, high pitched noise.

I should advance now. This just hurts too much. Yujin frowned at the thought. There was something wrong with that idea. He rubbed the side of his head, trying to order his thoughts, but his hand came away wet. Bringing it to his nose, Yujin smelled the faint coppery scent familiar to sparring days. His ears must have started bleeding.

Wait, why is the smell faint? Yujin’s mind latched onto the thought through the fog. Smells weren’t supposed to be faint anymore. That was the whole reason he was going through with this. The ceremony isn’t finished yet. I need a perfect Iron body, or my path ends here.

His thoughts were starting to drift. He needed to hurry.

He reached forward, fumbling acros the table until finally locating the bottles. He grabbed the leftmost and, refusing to think about it, downed the contents.

Sour.

Unbelievable sourness washed over him. Forcing his puckered mouth open, he spit out the foul brew and downed the next.

Salty.

A mixture of soy sauces and saltwater, Yujin held it in as long as he could before spewing it out. He tried to lean to the side but unable to see, he wasn’t certain he hadn’t just spit up all over Elder Lai.

One more.

Hands shaking, Yujin forced the last bottle between his lips and tilted his head back.

SpicyFirePainSearPainFirePain.

A mix of oils infused with every spice and chili Yujin had been able to locate in the market coated every nerve inside his mouth. He clapped his hands out his mouth, trying to contain the involuntary reaction. Oil leaked between his fingers, but enough had been trapped inside. It had to have been, because Yujin was never doing this again.

Yujin sat and trembled, forcing himself to wait as every burning nerve ever so slowly faded into comforting numb oblivion. Finger by finger, he released the death grip he held on his mouth, panting.

Don’t think. No time. So painful. One more. Just one more.

At last, Yujin collected and untied the pouch. He couldn’t see what was inside anymore, but he knew. The most potent spices months of scouring the market could bring. All he had to do was breathe them in, and then break through to Iron.

The advancement should not only repair all the damage, but take it further, enhancing them to a level commensurate to the damage done them. The massive amount of damage he’d inflicted to his senses, he should be able to see, hear, smell and taste to the utmost level possible of a human.

Should repair and enhance.

Should.

Yujin’s heart trembled at the fear.

If this doesn’t work, I…

Yujin couldn’t even image what he’d do if this failed. If all this pain had been for nothing? Or worse, if it didn’t even repair to back to his original level? Yujin’s imagination failed him.

Then he remembered.

No sacred artist can follow their own path without pain and risk.

His path had already been set. He’d decided on what he wanted to do, what he would be, long before this moment. All he had to do was take the next step.

Placing his face and mouth inside the pouch, he once again tilted his head back, and breathed deeply.

***********************

And then it was finally the day.

If Yujin hadn’t been preparing himself since stepping outside his house, if he hadn’t begun smelling it from a full league away, he would have thought there had been some sort of madra detonation.

It was like stepping into the marketplace for the first time all over again, but a thousand times better.

He strolled through the alleys, new Iron body allowing him to slip through the crowds with ease, soaking it all in. It was as if a new world had been revealed

The colors. The sounds.

The smells.

It defied words to describe it all.

He stopped at his normal fruit vendor, nodding to the vendor and receiving a respectful nod in return, instead of the normal condescending smile. He snagged a small orange glistening with a hint of life madra, holding it to his nose and breathing in deeply.

The citrus scent exploded to prominence, to the point that he could taste it. The tart, juicy flavor of it so familiar, yet magnified into something almost alien. He found he instinctively knew everything he could want to about the fruit. The slight differences in the flavor and substance of each slice. That it had been picked slightly less than two days before. The fact that it had been handled less than gently, but not so roughly as to do significant damage. That it would pair perfectly with the cake he’d been planning for his sister’s upcoming birthday.

He held it back to view it through his new eyes. There was a discoloration on the side that could have been mistaken for a bruise but actually wasn’t. The ridges denoting where it was best to peel, formerly a mystery were now laid out like a map. And the color felt deeper and richer the longer he stared.

Yujin was surprised the entire street hadn’t been blinded by the smile he now wore.

This was everything he’d hoped for those months ago, standing in the kitchen, dumbstruck by the idea of shaping the Flowing Steel Iron body into what he’d wanted, instead of settling for what it already did provide. Something designed to enhance not only combat, but other aspects of life as well. A body that could tell the readiness of a dish from the barest glance, sizzle or scent.

A True Chef’s Iron body.

Of course, he could never say that name out loud, but there was hardly a need to. This was his path, no one else’s. His parents were proud and the Elders had approved everything he’d done. It didn’t matter that they didn’t understand his exact motivation. That was a worry for another day anyway.

Today was just for him. He had a day off from training, scales in his pocket, and all the time in the world to pick out each ingredient he’d be cooking with for the next three days. Life was just about as perfect as could be.

Everyone else had been right. Advancement really did make everything better.