“Sparring, eh? Alright.”

Ethan stretched his arms and legs while looking at the wooden platform. Was he going to spar with his Master? That would surely be quite an experience, although he doubted he would be capable of landing even a hit on his teacher.

“You told me before that you have read and heard stories about how a practitioner obtains a cultivation book or manual of mystic arts and then sits in meditation for years to master its secrets. Such a thing is inaccurate, to say the least, or as you would so poetically and elegantly say it, bullshit.”

Navin spoke as they got up into the wooden platform. There was some kind of barrier over the edge, it felt as if they were crossing some bubble to enter it. Ethan laughed.

“So you don’t sit in secluded meditation for years? That’s a pretty common trope in every novel about you Cultivators.”

He was a bit unconvinced. The meditation for long periods of time was almost universal in every cultivation story he had ever read about. He had even fallen into a contemplative state that lasted hours, as he was barely beginning his practice. Ethan could easily imagine that a higher level Cultivator would meditate for far longer periods of time.

Navin raised a finger.

“About us, Ethan. You are a Cultivator too now. Stories are shards of truth, filtered by the minds of mortals and modified by cultural information. But they have inaccuracies, even if it’s quite interesting that you have information about this when no such thing really existed in your world. It’s a subject we’ll debate about on another date. Anyways, we do meditate for long periods of time, sometimes for centuries, but no one can master an art with mere mental simulations in seclusion. Especially not in the lower stages, like you are right now. The practice of secluded meditation is done to consolidate knowledge, come up with new ideas, and stabilize internal energy, even to recover from injuries. But to truly comprehend something you have to test it, a hypothesis without experimentation will not yield as much new knowledge as a tested one, and only practice can enable you to truly become an expert at something.”

During their days in the Desert of Death, Ethan had told Navin about many things from his world. His Master had used the expression ‘shards of truth’ when Ethan had told him about RPGs and about the many novels he had read. Unfortunately, he hadn’t elaborated much on that, because his Master had the strange habit of being cryptic at random intervals.

“Hmm, that makes sense. It’d be foolish to pretend to learn how to swim without ever entering the water, right?”

Ethan nodded in agreement. That made sense, attempting to learn a martial art without actually exercising the body would be nonsense, even if said martial art contained a lot of mystic stuff.

“Indeed. So let’s get you into the water and check whether you sink or swim.”

Ethan finished stretching and raised his fists, his teacher was unarmed, so he supposed the spar would be of unarmed combat. Navin raised a hand to signal him to wait.

“Before we begin the actual spar, let’s go over a bit of the basics of our cultivation art. What is the ideal truth of Primordial Soul Profound Breath?”

To answer Navin's question, Ethan replied from memory what he had learned from the mystic rune inside his mind.

"Autonomy while pursuing balance. Harmony with the Cosmos around us yet unfettered independence in our own internalized Cosmos. In the duality of Void and Chaos that manifests myriad forms of existence, we study the way of the evolution of the Cosmos to evolve ourselves, embracing everything and reshaping it in ourselves with renewed purpose."

Primordial Soul Profound Breath was a cultivation art that emulated the Cosmos within the practitioner, with a Core built from Void and Primordial Chaos, enabling the assimilation and use of the energies of the Cosmos in an easier way than other arts. Reproducing the creation, evolution, changes, and even the collapse of the universe within oneself, a greater comprehension could be achieved and thus a greater power could be obtained.

Although Ethan only had the barest understanding of it for now.

"Which are the three basic principles of our Cultivation Method?"

“Perception, Assimilation, and Adaptation.”

Ethan replied immediately, mentally going over the information provided by the mystic rune within his soul.

Perception of the Cosmos, to comprehend the many truths outside and within ourselves, awareness of our own state and our surroundings, to respond adequately to any given scenario.

Assimilation of the energies, to absorb and utilize the forces of the world, properly channel our own power and even take advantage of the strength of our opponents.

Adaptation to any situation, to be fluid and changeable, steady yet not frigid, unfettered yet ordained, in order to be able to embrace what benefits us and discard what does not. Overwhelming power born from versatility.

His Master nodded, a pleased smile on his face.

“Correct. Those are principles to the way we fight, and also to the way we live and practice Cultivation. Once you make them part of your life, they will enable you to effectively make the best out of any situation with the tools at your disposal and even make a new tool to respond to any necessity that may arise.”

“That’s quite an awesome thing, but can one truly do it?”

Ethan replied with a question. If things were as easy to be done as they were said in a textbook, everyone would be a successful expert or an invincible warrior.

“Of course we can. I’m not saying that it’s easy, though. This kind of things are principles to live for. They are ideals to pursue. Their function is to guide the practitioner towards advancement, so long as you always make efforts to improve, they fulfill their purpose.”

Navin continued in a modulated tone. His words resonating with the ones within the rune in Ethan’s mind. Perception, Assimilation, and Adaptation were the precepts that guided the practice of this cultivation method and were pursued in the study, creation, and application of any technique.

Ethan nodded in agreement of his teacher’s words and awaited the next question, which he knew was coming.

“What are the five basics of our combat style?”

His teacher asked, and without hesitation, the answer was given.

“Breathing, Channeling, Swerving, Treading, and Releasing.”

Ethan replied confidently, feeling the Qi within himself flowing stronger, confirmation of the truths of his Master’s art beating at the rhythm of his heart.

If the three before could be called philosophical principles, these five were the practical basis of their martial art. Each of the techniques that Ethan could see right now in the rune within his mind could be considered to belong to one of these five ‘categories’ or a combination of them.

Breathing, different methods to perceive the world and gather energy from the surroundings.

Channeling, to move the energy and shape it within oneself for usage.

Swerving, to guide external forces into new directions, its main application was in defense.

Treading referred to footing techniques and movement skills.

Releasing was mainly offensive in application, it referred to the use of energy in the techniques, especially when used in an attack or a strike.

“Excellent. Keep in mind that these have endless applications, and a single technique can have a bit of all five basics into itself. For example, deflecting strikes and dispelling their strength to avoid damage are applications of Swerving, Channeling, and Releasing. The same goes for an attack, as you have seen during our practice the days before, throwing a punch is more than just making a fist and moving it towards something, it requires adjusting your breathing to match your movements, establishing a firm footing, analyzing the distance and channeling your strength in a correct way before releasing it at the appropriate time for the strike to be successful. The same happens when countering and when using throws or locks. As you advance and improve, you will learn new techniques and come up with new ways to use your abilities, which I look forward to.”

Navin put his right hand behind his back and stood a bit sideways facing Ethan. He beckoned with his left hand.

“Now show me what you have learned. It’s alright if you use your spear too, don’t hold back.”

Ethan thought about getting his spear out of the Spatial Ring but decided otherwise for now. He raised his fists and took a deep breath, slowly he exhaled.

“Alright, here I come.”

Ethan stepped forwards and threw a jab at Navin, which was promptly slapped away with a precise movement. Ethan followed with an uppercut, but Navin’s left hand whipped at his wrist and made the attack miss.

Ethan took a step back before trying again, this time with a series of punches. They were all blocked or deflected with casual ease. Suddenly, Navin caught his left wrist and swept at Ethan’s feet with his leg, making Ethan fall to the ground.

“Steady your footing. If your attention is only on your arms and you lose focus about the rest of your body, you’ll be open to attacks. If you are not aware of some part of yourself during a battle, your strength will falter and it can cost you your life. This is not something easily gained, it’s built by experience. A good way to train that is by making you stay alert, looking out for hits coming from multiple directions.”

Navin spoke as he helped Ethan stand up. Situational awareness was an acquired skill and something necessary for survival, so he would put emphasis on that. They took distance and Navin beckoned Ethan again.

“You are not gonna make this a painful beating now, right?”

“No, I am not. Do you really think I would do that?”

Navin asked back with his head tilted to the side and open amusement on his face. Ethan looked at him for a long moment before replying.

“Yeah, I kind of do.”

“Your unfounded distrust of your loving teacher hurts me deeply.”

Navin said in a theatrical way, putting his hand over his chest and pretending to be shot by an arrow.

Ethan looked at him with unveiled skepticism.

“I mean it in a philosophical way, sort of.”

Navin added with a grin. Ethan just sighed and resigned himself to the training session. He actually doubted that Navin would punch him hard, but he had to ask anyway.

Standing again, Ethan tried a kick with his right leg. Navin caught his ankle and held his leg in the air, Ethan tried to pull it down but to no avail so he decided to try something else. Ethan jumped and kicked with his left. Navin noticed that there was a slight revolving wind around Ethan’s foot.

Navin raised Ethan’s leg, shielding himself from the incoming attack of the other leg. This left Ethan in an awkward position of having both legs in the air, leaving him making a handstand.

“Interesting move, was that from the Sword Dancers?”

Navin asked as he let go of Ethan’s ankle. Ethan stood up with a jump and took distance before replying.

“Yeah. You noticed?”

“There are signs to this kind of things. The way energy moves, mainly. Nicely done, by the way, though you are relying too much on instincts rather than your own consciousness so you didn’t bring about its full potential.”

Ethan nodded and raised his guard again, then he decided to try something else. With a thought, he brought out his spear from the Spatial Ring.

The spear his Master had made for him was fairly simple, it was made from the sand of the Desert of Death. Navin had drawn a circle in the sand and told Ethan to put his hand there and pull at the sand. When Ethan did, this spear came out.

The shaft was like polished wood with soft gray color, yet it had to be stone but was actually a bit flexible and smooth. The spearhead was extremely sharp, looking like something halfway between metal and stone. It was joined to the shaft by an adorned section of rings and as far as Ethan knew it would neither get dirty nor lose its sharpness. It was all one body and allegedly the same material, yet it upon closer inspection Ethan had found that it also seemed to be a composite construction.

With a slight flick of the wrist, Ethan made his Qi flow through the weapon, alternatively making it flexible and rigid. The more he used it, the easier it was to alter it.

Magic weapons are cool.

Ethan took a stance with the spearhead pointing to the ground, his left hand in front and his right hand holding the latter section of the shaft. He took a deep breath, gathering energy and tensing his muscles in preparation for the attack. Navin let him do it, watching carefully as Ethan got ready.

Letting out a soft breath, Ethan dashed forwards as fast as he could. Once he got close enough to his teacher, he made a forward thrust with the spear, exhaling sharply as he aimed at Navin’s chest.

Navin skillfully sidestepped to the right to avoid the spear and strode forwards, feeling the air behind him be torn apart by Ethan's strike. He placed his left leg behind Ethan’s legs and slipped his left arm between Ethan’s arms, grabbing his right shoulder and pushing while using his hip as leverage.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The result was another throw, and Ethan went to the floor again, hitting his head.

“Careful when you fall; either roll with the throw or disperse the impact with your back and arms, protecting your head is one of the priorities during a fight.”

Although the pain was gone almost immediately, the warning was necessary. The head was a vital part of the body so one must always be careful of avoiding damage. A single strike on the head might have fatal consequences, even if it was only a slight hit it could disorient the fighter and leave them open to a mortal wound.

“When you attack, be careful to not overcommit to the strike. If you put everything into the attack without reserving some strength for defense or evasion, then you are done for if the strike fails.”

He helped Ethan get up again, who hesitated a bit before speaking.

“You know; I have to ask if there’s really a point in me sparring with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… it’s not like I’ll be able to actually hit you, right? I just think that it might be better to spar with someone that isn’t so abysmally better than me.”

Navin considered this for a moment. Ethan’s words had some truth in them.

“Well, the purpose of this spar was never for you to hit me, and neither was it for me to hit you, just so we are clear. It was so that I could measure your current state, pointing out your flaws and strong points to devise future training. And another thing, don’t get all fatalist with ‘I have no way to hit you’, if you think that way then you lose before even trying.”

“Master, do you think I can manage to land a hit on you in a fight?”

Ethan asked with a mirthless smile. It wasn’t that he actually expected to defeat Navin in combat, but being so easily taken down was not something enjoyable at all.

“Well… no. But that doesn’t have to stop you. Even if I don’t think you can do it, that doesn’t have to prevent you from trying, as such attitude defeats the purpose of the training.”

Navin admitted it. There was a dimensional gap between their levels of skill and experience, it was impossible to deny that. If Ethan actually managed to land a hit on Navin, it would be quite a prodigious achievement. Still, that was no reason for him not to try, and the spar was never about that.

Navin was deep in thought as he considered the situation. Suddenly, he smiled and closed his eyes for a few moments. He then beckoned Ethan to stand by his side at the edge of the wooden platform.

“Alright, I see your point, and I think that I can get you a suitable sparring partner.”

Navin waved his hand, making multiple statues rise from the sand and rocks, armed with different sets of equipment and weapons. They formed a neat line by the side of the wooden platform.

“Pick an opponent and fight it, don’t worry, they aren’t as hard as they appear, and I have set them to have the power and skill sets of a First Stage practitioner. So they won’t be as hard to fight as me.”

Ethan walked down the stage and started to examine the statues.

----------------------------------------

A few minutes later, Ethan was still carefully examining the statues. They had all been made from the sand of the desert, but as expected from his Master’s magic there was nothing sand-like about them. They were, if anything, extremely life-like.

Each statue was different from the rest, some were male, some were female, there were a few that Ethan couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman. Some wore armor, others had their upper bodies exposed, one particular pair was even wearing a set of robes.

Most of the figures carried a weapon of some sort. Swords, sabers, spears, hammers, axes, clubs, dual daggers, even chains. All made from sand skillfully shaped. There were some that were unarmed, like a particularly brawny-looking statue and the pair of robed statues that seemed to be holding long pieces of cloth in their arms.

So I am supposed to fight them. These are more than just average statues. Magical dolls, more likely. And if this test is to show what I learned during meditation, then…

Ethan looked at each statue carefully before settling for the one carrying a spear. During his meditative training, Ethan had fought a doll carrying a spear, and he wanted to show his achievements in that type of combat.

He thought about picking one of the unarmed ones, but he didn’t think even for a second that his Master wouldn’t do some weird thing with them, like making them some kind of super masters of martial arts beyond what appearances showed.

Ethan gave a sideways look at his Master and found him smiling at him with an amused grin.

Yeah, I’m definitely not picking one of the unarmed ones.

“This one.”

Ethan pointed at the one with a spear. The other figures instantly stepped back. The selected statue saluted Ethan and started to walk towards the wooden platform.

Upon setting foot on the platform, the air around the animated statue rippled, and all appearance of it being an object disappeared as if being washed away by water.

An olive-skinned woman stood in front of Ethan, her skin a bit darker than his Master’s own tone. What used to be sand and stone now was flesh and bone. His opponent was wearing light leather armor and boots, on her head she wore steel helmet with an opening behind through which her black hair passed in a ponytail, she had a wooden spear with a steel blade in the head and a knife in her belt.

Brown eyes studied Ethan with clear intelligence. Nothing about her showed any indication that she was actually a statue.

Was it some illusion? His Master was capable of amazing things, Ethan already knew, but to make a statue appear so human-like was a bit disturbing albeit very impressive.

His opponent saluted again and silently took a low stance with her spear, a thin smile on her face.

Navin stepped down from the platform, choosing to stand by the side. Navin smiled and pointed to the statue-that-no-longer-seemed-one that stood on the other side of the platform. The woman seemed to be respectfully awaiting her turn to act.

“Speary will be your sparring partner, try to put to use what you practiced during the Soulscape Training. No need to hold back, it will be a match closer to your level, but she has more experience fighting than you, so be careful.”

Ethan snorted out a laugh. Was that name because she used a spear?

“Speary, really? That’s the best name you could come up with?”

The spearwoman’s brow furrowed a bit, looking annoyed at Ethan’s comment. She tightened her grip on her spear and took a low stance with her right leg in front and the left hand holding the latter part of the shaft. A left-handed stance.

Really? Even the facial expressions are so life-like?

Ethan noticed with admiration that if someone saw the two on the stage right now, they wouldn’t be able to tell that the woman was a statue constructed just a couple of minutes before.

“Ah, you offended her. Mocking an opponent’s name has consequences, Ethan. Prepare yourself for her anger.”

Navin chuckled in amusement and waved a hand. A bright red number 5 appeared in the air between Ethan and ‘Speary’. The signal to start the sparring session would be when it reached zero.

“Within the boundaries of this platform, any wounds you receive will be rendered inexistent, as immaterial as an illusion. So don’t worry about anything and go all out, but beware of getting any wounds, it will still be a bit painful.”

Navin warned as an off-hand comment. The warning was something serious, despite the casual tone it was spoken in.

Ethan turned his head to look at his Master and narrowed his eyes at him.

“Was that there before?”

“Yes, that’s why the pain from when you hit your head on the floor was gone in a second, I didn’t mention it because I wasn’t really planning on hitting you, but it wouldn’t be a real sparring if you didn’t feel the pressure of a fight, right? Speary will take care of that, rest assured.”

Navin grinned at him in what Ethan thought was a mixture of childish enthusiasm and the dickish humor of a prankster.

“I hate you.”

“Ahh!! Disciple’s hatred, a Master’s only weakness!!”

Navin clutched at his chest and dramatically started to sink into the sand with one hand extended to the sky. His body disappeared completely into the sand and there was a sound like an alarm ringing coming from the floating number between Ethan and his sparring partner.

Ethan had to use all self-control to not laugh. He turned away from the spot where his Master disappeared and faced his sparring partner.

Speary was still standing with her weapon ready. Her lips quirked in a thin smile. Ethan took a stance too, inhaling deeply and slowly letting out his breath.

Energy flowed through his body and his senses sharpened in preparation for the fight.

The countdown proceeded.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The countdown reached zero, announcing the start of the fight.

Ethan let his opponent seize the initiative, and it cost him.

Speary lunged forwards and made a thrust. Ethan raised his spear to block it but the spearhead passed barely an inch away from the shaft of his spear, that was never the objective of her move. The direction of the thrust changed into a downward strike aiming at his upper leg. Ethan back-pedaled to avoid the wound and found the attack already changing. Striding ahead, Speary continued her move and switched her footing, with her left leg in the front and her left arm swinging the shaft of her spear with all the gathered momentum, the swirling of her weapon bringing forth an increased force as she hit the right side of Ethan’s head.

He fell to the ground and while his head hurt a lot for a couple of seconds, the pain receded as if he had never been hurt.

Ethan heard his teacher voice from the side.

“Remember the advantages of a polearm; while a spear is mainly a weapon for stabbing, so thrusting is its main form of attack, it is not limited to that alone. By accumulating momentum during a swing, a spear can deliver a crushing blow with its shaft. And due to its shape and length, a spear’s attacks are fluid and changeable. A thrust can easily become a swing coming from a completely different direction in a single moment and vice versa.”

Ethan saw Navin spoke while inclining his head to the side, standing by the side of the platform as if he had never left that spot.

Being taken by surprise in the first round was a rookie mistake, the real sparring would be in the later rounds, once Ethan adjusted his mentality to the fight.

Ethan stood up while mumbling about his teacher, but took a low stance similar to the one Speary had. The spearwoman silently prepared for the next round.

The countdown reached zero again and both stepped forwards.

Ethan stepped to the left, channeling Qi through his body. A single step covered the distance of three of his usual strides and he positioned himself to thrust at Speary.

She made an upwards swing, not aiming to block his attack. Instead, she slashed at his hands. Feeling the biting pain on his fingers, Ethan’s right hand let go of the spear, leaving him open for Speary’s next attack. With a precise movement of her hands and a quick change in her grip, she swung upwards again, the back of her spear aiming at Ethan’s chin.

With what looked like a small skip, Ethan jumped back and took distance from his opponent. Over three meters were covered in that jump, he was already panting. Speary did not pursue him, choosing to instead return to the initial stance. Her eyebrows raised twice in mockery, a thin smile still plastered on her face.

Ethan glanced at his right hand, the wound was gone, not even a trace of blood left behind.

“Steady your breathing, Ethan. You are wasting energy in big moves and draining yourself. You need to keep it simple, fight smart and use your energy efficiently. And be careful of your hands, there’s a reason gauntlets were invented.”

Navin advised him again. Ethan had decided to go into the spar in his casual clothes, which Navin hadn’t stopped. There was a lesson to be learned there too.

Ethan took a deep breath and gathered energy, he let it flow through him, strengthening him. Anger was boiling in him, the annoyance of being hit mixing up with his own hurt pride. He could put gauntlets or gloves, he had them on his Spatial Ring, but he didn’t want to, not yet. If the wounds incurred here were nothing more than a momentary pain, he could deal with it.

Navin took a look at his stubborn apprentice and sighed. That was fine too, getting a bit of pain endurance was important, though Navin was in no hurry of subject him to a pain tolerance training.

Letting Ethan check his own limits by himself would be much more fruitful in the long run and enable him to take accurate measures to overcome them.

Time for round 3.

Both spear wielders charged. Ethan made a thrust aiming at Speary’s chest but she parried the attack, letting the spearhead pass her by. They were now too close to each other for the spears to be appropriately used, and while Ethan thought about taking distance, Speary dropped her weapon. She punched him in the abdomen and then grabbed his arm and in a fluid motion threw him over her shoulder to the wooden floor.

Navin spoke again. Ethan just stayed on the floor, catching his breath.

“Another important thing, do not forget that while the weapon you wield is useful, it is not the only tool at your disposal. This is a common mistake among weapon users; they become too dependent on their weapon, so when they fight they think all the time about chances to use it when they should be looking for any way to win. Worse, they panic and become vulnerable the moment they can’t use their weapon, which is a horrible weakness. Your body is the first tool you have and is the one you should hone the most, along with your mind and soul. Relying too much on an external thing will be counterproductive when you are separated from it.”

It wasn’t a matter of if he would be separated from his weapon, but a matter of when it would happen. In a battle, there would be many factors involved and one could not choose all battle conditions, so having a glaring weakness like dependency of a weapon would be something any decent opponent would exploit.

While his Master spoke, Ethan listened in silence, but his eyes were fixed on Speary. There was a smug smile on her face as she looked down on him.

She was just too life-like.

She took a few steps back, giving him space to stand up. Ethan looked to his Master.

“Is she real? I mean, is she actually alive?”

“Oh? Why do you ask? You saw when I formed the statues. But if you think she is alive, then she is alive.”

When Navin finished speaking, Ethan heard a giggle by his side, in Speary’s direction. He turned to look at her and found her with an austere expression, no trace of emotion remaining on her face.

“If it’s you, Master, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could animate a rock to be sentient. But whatever, don't answer if you don't want to. Have you seen enough?”

“Don’t you want to try again?”

Ethan looked at Speary for a long moment before standing up again.

"Alright, one more round."

----------------------------------------

Five rounds later, Ethan was on the floor panting.

By his side, Speary stood with a straight back. Navin pulled out a bottle of water and made it levitate to Ethan.

"Do you want to try again?"

“Nah, I’m sure I can’t beat her yet."

Navin smiled and walked over as Ethan caught the bottle and drank from it. It was refreshing and invigorating. Despite the sparring session not being more than an hour long, Ethan felt as if he had been exercising for hours. He took a moment to catch his breath before continuing speaking.

"Whether you are guiding her moves or if she is alive doesn’t change anything. The fact remains that I can’t defeat her right now. And I have an appointment to meet.”

Ethan sighed and passed a hand over his sweaty hair. He looked at his sparring partner, uncertain on how to address her.

"I don't know if you are truly alive, but if you are, thanks for the sparring, Speary."

Talking with a statue wouldn't be the craziest thing he had done in the whole week, anyway. That he could see the amusement in her eyes as she silently nodded could be his imagination or his teacher's illusion.

“That’s a laudable attitude. Very well, I have seen your current strengths and flaws, I’ll design a training plan to take care of it, don’t worry. You did well for your first spar, too.”

Navin clapped Ethan's shoulder with a smile.

“So you say, Master, but I was just being thrown around.”

After taking long pulls from the bottle, Ethan pointed an accusatory finger at Navin.

“Nothing about this was ‘a closer match’. She’s way better than me.”

“She is more experienced, true. But as I said before, the skills, speed, and strength she used are those of a First Stage practitioner, Speary’s job is to show you how to efficiently use them. Learn from her, and improve. You are just starting, so there’s plenty of space for you to get better.”

Navin replied and sat next to Ethan. Ethan had only a few days of training, it wasn’t like he would be able to become an expert instantaneously. His potential was astonishing, and his abilities were already above those of an ordinary human, but making an easy target for Ethan to destroy during their training would not help him.

"Alright, let's get you back to Lauhr for your date."

"Appointment."

"As you say. But first, regulate your breathing and meditate for a minute to stabilize your energy."

Ethan nodded and sat cross-legged. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to guide the energy within himself. In a minute, he felt the tiredness wash out of his body. This time he was sure that he hadn't stayed in some trance.

That's when Ethan noticed his teacher looking into the distance, towards what he guessed was the direction Lauhr, shaking a bit as if he was trying to hold back his laughter.

“What?”

“I just looked at your friends in Lauhr City, they are panicking a bit.”

Ethan's heart jumped. Were the people of the city in danger again?

“Another attack?”

“No, hahaha. It's just that you didn’t go back to the Inn last night, and now you are nowhere to be found in the city. So they are getting a bit worried and suspicious of each other.”

Navin let out a burst of laughter after that. Ethan just let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, then I guess it’s time to go back, Master.”

Ethan stood up and looked down at his clothes, which were sweaty and covered in sand from the sparring. Unlike the clothes made by Navin, his normal clothes didn’t have a self-cleaning enchantment. He groaned and started to walk to the marquee.

“I’m going to clean up first.”

He crossed the door to the house where he rested and prepared to wash a bit and get clean clothes.

----------------------------------------

Navin stood up and looked to the side, Speary stood there with a smile on her face.

“So, what do you think?”

Navin asked her. The woman bowed before replying.

“Talented, but a bit reckless. The new young lord has a good disposition, seeing that he doesn't get angry over a loss, but still needs to be more patient in a fight.”

Speary said and extended her hands in front of her. She clenched and unclenched them.

“He managed to redirect half of the force of the strikes to my own hands near the end. How long has he been training?”

“Six days, and it’s only been two and a half since he formed his Cultivation Core.”

Navin replied with a smile and the woman went still, eyes open wide in astonishment. She then regained composure and bowed deeply.

“One by one, each successor is extraordinary and possessor of infinite talent.”

She straightened her back and smiled at Navin.

“It is good to see you again, Sovereign.”

“It’s good to be back, Vivienne. Thanks for helping here. I will visit you guys soon.”

She bowed again, with her right fist over her chest.

“The Illusory Phantom Corp exists only for you, Sovereign. We will obey your commands for eternity. I will tell the others, and await you in the Land of Dream.”

Like morning mist under the glare of the sun, her appearance vanished, leaving only the sand statue behind before it crumbled into dust.

Navin raised a hand. The wooden platform and all the statues disappeared as if they had never existed.

He hummed a light and cheerful song as he waited for Ethan to come back.