Chapter 7

Within the manor, a girl sat crossed legged while hundreds of miniature orbs of flame floated around her. One would only think that this person was a prodigy.

The orbs dimmed out and disappeared once the girl felt tired. Her body was glistening with sweat and fatigue looked apparent on her. a maid approached her and gave her a towel while saying

“That was well-done my lady you will certainly surpass your father in no time”

“That is a hard goal to achieve Melinda, but I will certainly do, tell me then who is that boy?” said the daughter of Lord Ling

“He says he is an orphan, and I don’t know what made the lord agree on sending him with you to Visania, Worry not miss Akari, I will be there too…”

“I am not worried, but he just seems rather interesting. For a fact he managed to subdue the flames within me like no other had done so, rather than forcing them to submission, they became… willing to give me their power, it was like… they fear him…”

“That is nonsense, the flame of the mighty dragon fears nothing…” said Melinda

“I don’t know about that, but what is he doing with uncle Shen?” asked the mistress

“He is training him to be a worthy bodyguard, but I don’t think he can make it”

“You don’t seem to be trusting his efforts, I was told that he managed a feat that even master Shen was unable to”

“How did you know of such a thing?” said Melinda in a teasing way

The girl blushed a little and said

“I heard the maids speak of a boy moving in a strange way and I got interested, it was not like I was spying on him… just curiosity”

“hmm curiosity, well anyway it usually takes a lot of time for one to be a proper bodyguard for one such as you, and two months is severely low… but I will make sure that he will do his job properly”

“Thank you, Melinda.” Said the girl as she went to take a shower to refresh herself from the morning’s practice

This is absurd! Impossible even…

I thought as I suffered under the weight of the log

Normally even without the chains I would still find it hard to reallocate these logs where the master had instructed, but with this limiter, it was a nigh impossibility

Even carrying one of them proved to be too difficult for me. it was hard for me to use the minimal strength to carry something that even while fully energized would fail to do.

‘You are not focused, you see weight as matter, and you see strength as power, it is but balance and you are failing to balance yourself to reach the required strength you need. Focus’ Said Nocturne

‘Could you be a little bit more specific and less enigmatic, I really find it hard to do anything here…’

‘Sigh… Master, you need to see what you are carrying, feel its texture, its density, the weight and its substance, you need to ingrate these in your mind, and make your body feel them, to know what you are dealing with, the energy within it and try to make it a part of you.’

‘I really don’t think that would make the weight any less if I feel the log… no pun intended…’

‘Let me take over for a moment’ he said and I lost control over my body

I was standing near the pile of logs and now took a backseat within my own mind, looking at what I was doing like if I was navigating my body.

Master Shen who was sharpening a piece of wood instantly jumped up looking around for probably what seemed to be a sign of danger, he looked agitated and a bit flustered, I even saw a drop of sweat coming down from his forehead.

“I must have been mistaken…” he said and resumed sharpening his stick (no pun intended again)

Nocturne took a deep breath, and I felt the springs unusually contort, and expanding leaving more room for his lungs to expand.

Exhaling I felt my body filled with unusual freshness and probably what seemed to be energy.

He placed his palm on the log and easily placed it on his shoulder.

‘This is how we do it’ he said

‘I still have no idea how you carried that…’

‘You need not think as if these limiters as restraints, think of them as a part of you, like if you were born with them, your mind will then unseal your potential for it to grow, the human mind is filled with secrets, and only putting it to great difficulties will it unlock some.’ He said

“How in the hell did you do that?!” said master Shen as he stood up shocked from what he just saw

‘Take your body back’ said Nocturne and left me back in charge

For a moment, I didn’t even feel the weight of the Log, then as I lost concentration it all came down crashing on me and I fell to my knees, while the log rolled over towards the master who stopped it with one leg

“How did you do that,? That is impressive, I truly find you to be filled with mystery young lad”

“I don’t really know how, but it seems that I lost that control, let me try again,” I said then went toward the Log that rolled over

I didn’t even notice myself as I actually jogged towards the Log, totally forgetting that I was restrained, and as if it was an epiphany that struck I knew what I needed to do.

Once I crawled over, I only focused on my task the Log and to carry it, not how heavy it was, but what it was made of, it was made of wood, had a low density so it was not that heavy, the shell was a bit rough, other than that it was just a regular log.

I then took a deep breath, the springs expanded, though not to the same limit that nocturne made them, it was still decent

Exhaling, I felt the same rush of energy.

I focused on my task and grabbed the log with both hands, putting it over my shoulder without even a thought, I managed to do a feat that should be impossible for anyone my size and age.

Then went toward the location where I needed to drop it.

Once I dropped it, my muscles began to scream from pain, but I endured and continued with my task.

Ignore the pain, focus on the task, find Balance between your strength and your task, then you will find the way.

Easy.

All that while Master Shen stood mouth agape.

Once I placed the second Log, he instantly went toward the manor bringing Master Ling with him.

I ignored the two and continued on with my task, body filled with sweat, head almost spinning but I endured, and carried the logs to where they needed to be.

“How is it possible?” asked Lord Ling

“I don’t know” replied Master Shen ‘He seems to have a knack for the impossible… this took me more than a month to just carry the first log, even for three steps, this is his first day and he already allocated the third piece…” he said

Though they were far, and I should have normally been unable to hear them I still did, and with clarity.

“You must take great care of this boy, Shen…” said Lord Ling

“Don’t worry, I will never let him wither.”

It is good to hear people speaking good about you, I thought to myself as I continued on with my task.

It took me three more runs to finally collapse, unable to even move a muscle where I faded into nothingness.

“Seems about your limit… you have done well master,” said Nocturne “once your muscles develop more, you will find yourself able to carry out an inhuman task, so worry not about the present. Rest for you shall need it, once the time of reckoning is upon you, you will be tested. Winning will assure your survival, while if you lost…I dare not even think of the consequences…” he said to me who was barely able to catch on to his words.

I woke up the next day with massive cramps but after taking a refreshing bath and having my breakfast I felt like new, I resumed my task of moving logs, this time it was a bit more arduous with all the compiled fatigue but still I managed to do more runs, thankfully without collapsing this time.

A week after that, I managed to fully displace the logs, which accounted to 350 pieces.

I was even able to carry two at a time, but never was able to get the third one, Nocturne called it the human unbreakable limit, where without further training the bridge can never be breached, one must always become stronger so that this human limit will rise making room for him to grow.

“Very well, Basara,” said Master Shen “Now do you want to learn the way of the blade?” he said

“Yes!” I said, “But first tell me why did I have to carry those logs?” I added

“Those are for what we will be doing next,” he said “Hold this” he threw me a wooden sword and said

“Put one of those logs in a horizontal position, and chop them using that sword without breaking the sword”

“That is impossible-“ yet before I could finish my statement

The master swordsman slashed at one of the logs in rapid succession with a wooden stick he had on him

The log didn’t even feel damaged then parts of it slid on the sides…

I just witnessed something that should have been unthinkable

I went toward the log remains and saw that they were cleanly cut, like if they had been slashed with a sharp tool… looking at his stick I saw it be blunt and without sharp edges…

“How did you do this?”

“Practice,” he said

“That can’t be, there has to be a trick to it, I am sure, I mean how can this even be happening…”

“it can, and I just showed it to you, I know this is hard to grasp, but you will understand with time. I know this is a step above what I intended to show you but looking at your progress I believe you will find a way.” He said and left

I stood looking baffled at the wooden log and began forming theories on how he managed to do this feat… I mean the thickness of the log was a lot greater than the stick so the impact should have broken it, but the stick managed to slide through the log and cut it with great accuracy and speed that it was nearly severed.

‘It is about control again, if you control your strength and power, you will be able to hone your weapon or any object, you saw him do that to that strand of grass the first time you met him, but this is a feat I think to great for you to achieve at your current strength, why not start with smaller objectives then proceed onwards.’ Said Nocturne

I thought about it then moved away from the pile of logs, I didn’t even need to try striking the log with the wooden log I had on my hand that was and I knew it is impossible for me right now.

I took a tall strand of grass and sat down, trying to remember how the sword master did his thing and how he reinforced it to become sturdier and stronger.

But after looking at the blade of grass nothing came to me, I even felt that that was impossible and I needed more hints from the sword master.

‘All humans have innate ability to merge with nature, they have an inner energy that transforms into movements and power, in some cases, they can exercise this energy to materialize, like magic. In your case you are unable to use this source, for let me tell you of your ability. it is I; your power is derived from the book you hold, and for that, you are forbidden to use any magic besides what is within the book. What the book learns shall be yours to use, what others exercise will not be of any use to you, you must unlock the secrets within the book to know more about your ability’

‘What does that have to do with this task, I mean if I can’t learn what the master is teaching me then whyto bother?’

“Simple, what he is teaching you is already within the book, you only failed to notice. It is balance, once you reach balance between you and your environment you will see for yourself what it is that you need to do in order to achieve your goal, you needed to be in balance to manage your body in the restraints, you also needed to be in balance with your mind to carry the weights, and you will need to be in balance to see through the weaknesses of your targets, once you are successful with these three tasks, you will be in perfect balance, body, mind, and environment”

I thought about it for a second then remembered

For the first time I wore the restraints, I was finding difficulties to move with my body, after managing that, I needed to forgo my thoughts and pain to be able to carry the weights. Now I need to focus to learn the weaknesses of the log, there is a link between these things that should make me achieve what I am looking for…

‘So if I manage to see through the weakness of an item, how will that help me to cut it?’

‘once the weakness is revealed, you will need another thing. That is if you remember to extend the energy within you, to spread through your weapon of choice, once it does it will be your task to make it sharper, more durable and strong enough to cut through your target, however, there are some materials that can be reinforced to an enormous degree but would still fail to cut through weak points. A blade of grass no matter how reinforced and honed will never cut through ordinary steel, and a honed piece of iron will not cut through a honed piece of steel, the density and material improve the quality of your honing and strengthening.’ Said Nocturne

He is quite chatty today…

‘Alright then let’s give it a try’ I said as I took in my hand my wooden sword. (definitely not a pun)

I looked at it, and felt its texture, it was wooden, obviously and it had some small dents, it wasn’t perfectly made, it must have been rush made, it was even a bit uneven, a side of it had more density as I pressed on it while it didn’t even move under the pressure of my fingers, the other was a bit softer and I felt it contract a bit after a strong press with my thumb and index

It seems that this is the weak side.

As I kept on inspecting the thing, I lost track of time, looking at the veins of the sword I was left wondering how to think it was where it would fail to block, the side that had the weakest point where I can cut through it with ease… and without intending, my vision turned black and white and several spots on the sword revealed themselves to me. about a few hundred tiny spots, with three of them being quite big and looked to have hundreds of veins growing out of it.

‘Monochrom vision’ said Nocturne

‘What is this?’

‘It is the first level of the Monochrome world, you can see weaknesses with this, getting better and higher understanding of this ability will teach you how to manage it. look around you, you will understand what I mean’

Taking a look around I saw the world like never before, the ground the walls the flowers and every other object anything and everything was riddled with these red dots, some were big the size of a fist, and some were small like dust particles…

‘These represent the weak points of anything, living or object… cutting through these things will cause their destruction.’

‘Very well, this should probably do the trick in cutting those logs’

‘This is not enough, though this is far from what the swordsman was seeing when he cut through those logs, this only shows you the weak points, not the way how to cut through them. Even if you use a steel blade to cut through these weak points that wooden log will not be cut down, at least not to the degree you expect’

‘Then what to do?’

‘First, you will need to learn how to hone your weapon, then you will need to learn the required strength to cut through any of these things, not all of them need similar power to cut through so you will have to train and practice’

‘Indeed. Alright, I will try, now how do we hone?’

‘take a deep breath, you will feel a small surge of energy within you, once you breathe you force that energy to float, after further practice you will be able to naturally harness it’

I did as I was told, taking a deep breath and holding a strand of grass in my hand I tried to circulate the rapidly dissipating energy and push it towards the strand of grass.

It was fruitless at first, so I tried and tried again, then Nocturne said.

‘This should not be possible…’ with a tone filled with surprise

As I opened my eyes to see, the strand of grass caught fire, yet not any fire… a black flame of intense heat… Now, this is interesting!