Raja Kint woke up with a clear head. Stretching his body as he looked around. At least that headache is gone now. Transforming that technique took a lot more out of me than I thought it would. It was like I was fighting against something… different.
Raja Kint stood up and left his cave abode. The sun sat high in the sky. Seems I was only out for a few hours. He walked toward the hut. With it being midday the academy was less noisy than the morning. With disciples either in class, on missions or in seclusion.
Once he arrived he knocked on the hut to no replies. He figured they weren’t present and decided to wander around the academy. As he walked around he took in the academy in its fullness.
“Hey, shouldn’t you be with that girl? Why are you walking around our academy?”
Raja Kint turned to see a young boy. “I wasn’t feeling too well until recently. But I didn’t find them where we usually meet. Do you know where they are?”
“What do you two practice?”
“Arrays.”
The young boy pointed in a direction and Raja Kint thanked him. Soon he was surrounded by many buildings and wasn’t sure where to go. He happened to meet another student who pointed toward a building. Raja Kint thanked him and rushed over to find a large gathering. At the stage was the woman he’d come to know but didn’t see Kyoot Kint. He searched the crowd full of hundreds of students when he finally found Kyoot Kint.
She was near the front of the crowd and Raja Kint didn’t feel like pushing past people so he stayed back. At this time he heard the woman speaking.
“As aspiring novice arrayists, you all are learning about arrays from what the academy and these lessons provide you. But, you must remember to always delve deeper into the array. How do the individual lines work? Why are the lines this way? How much ki was used in this line?
“This line of questioning must be pursued to no end when dealing with arrays.”
A young girl raised her hand and the woman pointed to her. A soft voice sounded, “How do we even go to such lengths? We can’t even form an array at even the novice level.”
A young boy spoke out, “Yeah, we aren’t even novice arrayists and now you’re telling us to understand the arrays at a deeper level? Are we not too early in our cultivation to attempt such a thing?”
The woman smiled, “You are indeed early. People won’t even take you seriously as arrayists. But, treading this path isn’t about what others think. I’m sure you’ve read the books on great arrayists. They’re always looking to learn more, to test boundaries and reach new heights.
“If we all thought of just making money or getting a safe backing. Heck, even anything besides increasing our knowledge of arrays the furthest we can. Then arrays wouldn’t have developed to the extent they have today.”
One of the boys said, “Teacher, you want us to trudge through new limits with arrays? Only geniuses can do such a thing. And as far as I can see, there are no geniuses here. Anyone not already taken by the higher powers is far from being a genius.”
The woman replied, “If that was the case then many powerful cultivators in history with low backgrounds should’ve never have reached their heights. Some don’t even realize their talents until their older age where they experience exponential growth.
“I’m sure you all know about the arrayist sea devourer who became immortal through arrays. He had a lowly background coming from places no greater than here. Yet he discovered arrays in his thirties and from there climbed up through hard work. And transcended at 845 years old.”
The kids hummed in response and many thanked the teacher. Even Raja Kint benefitted somewhat from this. His mind expanded on the possibilities with arrays. This also brought back a small excerpt from a book on his planet that he had forgotten about. A Sovereign said, “Arrayists are worth at least 3 martial cultivators of the same stage.”
Another boy raised his hand. “Teacher, can we see you create an array line?”
The woman smiled, “Of course.” She stood up and walked to the wall at the back. The students closely watched as the woman took a breath and extended her finger. Her finger was covered in a blue hue as she pressed it against the wall, reaching half an inch deep. With sharp eyes, she slowly moved her finger down six inches before stopping.
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She turned around with a slightly pale face. “This is a line. A line simply of ki and yet as you can see. I’ve become tired just from this line of ki. Even the application of ki is subpar.”
The kids quickly responded, “We can’t do anything close to that.”
“That line alone is more than I’ll probably ever do.”
The woman looked at the kids present and said. “Would anyone like to attempt this as well?”
Two boys stood up as they walked to the woman. Kyoot Kint stood up a moment later and the three looked at the teacher’s line. Raja Kint was feeling antsy inside and decided to walk through the crowd. After annoying several people he finally arrived at the stage. He walked over to the line as well.
He knew from his mother that arrays were extremely deep. In fact, he knew that a single line could contain countless laws mixed together. Of course, finding arrayists who could create such arrays was already a rare group.
The other three went to different spots while staring at the wall. Raja Kint reached his hand forward and touched the array line. He could feel the strength of the limbo realm present. He removed his hand and walked to a wall. Before he reached a wall the other three were already attempting their lines. They focused as much ki as they could onto their finger and pressed against the wall.
One boy immediately broke out into a cold sweat and fell to his knees. Leaving only a slight mark that looked more like a barely discernible scratch. The other boy attempted and created more of a mark that looked like a slight indent. Yet he still fell covered in sweat.
Raja Kint checked their ki fluctuations during this and noticed the first boy was at the outer ki realm seventh stage and the second boy was at the outer ki realm eighth stage.
Kyoot Kint pointed her finger and took a moment to focus. A very minuscule hue appeared at the tip of her finger as she pressed. She reached an eighth of an inch deep before trying to move down. Everyone watched with bated breath as she moved down a quarter of an inch before falling drenched in sweat.
The woman smilingly said, “You truly are talented, I’ve seen few capable of doing that much below the limbo realm.”
Kyoot Kint thanked her as everyone’s eyes turned to Raja Kint. He turned toward the wall when he heard someone say.
“Why is he even up there? He’s only at the sixth stage.”
“He probably won’t leave so much as a mark.”
“He probably wants to impress his senior sister after hiding in his cave for a few days.”
Hearing the last line Raja Kint’s eyes widened. I wasn’t asleep for a few hours but a few days! He quickly calmed himself and pointed his finger. Having never focused his ki to such a small point. He focused on first pouring ki into his finger. He could only transfer a small part of his ki over. Causing him to sigh at the seemingly effortless control of ki from the woman. He then focused this small amount toward the tip of his finger.
Everyone watched him standing for a minute before a hue appeared on the tip of his finger. People wore confused expressions as this wasn’t the blue they were used to seeing but green. Even the woman stared intently at this green hue. Yet, no ideas came to her mind.
Raja Kint pressed his finger against the wall and reached a quarter of an inch deep before moving his finger down one inch before stopping. He attempted to regulate his breathing as he lay on his back. While admitting that this was truly a difficult feat. He was also excited as it was something new to practice.
Everyone else stared in disbelief at Raja Kint’s line. It was green and looked similar to the teacher's besides the small size. The other two boys stared in disbelief.
The woman walked over and placed her finger on the line. She could feel the green ki seemed normal but the color difference wasn’t clear. She was also surprised that Raja Kint could make his ki as uniform as it was. She was expecting a more haphazard ki placement.
The seventh stage boy said, “It seems the Kint Academy might have two people being picked this year.”
Many in the crowd agreed with his sentiments. As Raja Kint looked across the crowd of students he saw some faces full of envy, jealousy and hatred.
A soft voice said, “Are you back to full health?”
Raja Kint looked at the teacher. “Yes, senior.”
She looked at the students and said. “This will be all for today. Remember, these two will be here for a while so treat them as you would each other.”
The students thanked the teacher while quickly dispersing. The four kids who attempted the line cultivated for a few more minutes to regain their strength.
The eighth stage boy says, “We’ll hold a competition with the array division. So that we have a better chance at being picked.”
Kyoot Kint and the other boy quickly agreed while Raja Kint thought for a moment. I’m not even sure they would be able to help me. Plus, not exactly like I was going to rely on arrays to win. Hmm, oh well. Raja Kint agreed and the boy said he would have everything ready in seven days.