Darkhaven sat on his usual pole, the picture of tranquillity itself, spirit wafting off him in black waves, pressing down onto Ren.

The Master wore a purple robe with multiple, white, overlapping circles etched onto it with masterful finesse. The contrast to the colour of the surrounding spirit made Darkhaven look like a mysterious sage, trying to contemplate the magics of the world.

The old man was already taking a breath to start monologuing, but Ren wanted to ask him about the Novice trials, as it might help his friends, and it didn't really cost him anything.

"Master, could we talk about the upcoming trials, for a bit? Why are the Novices being so serious about it? I mean, I get that the rewards are nice, and some of their families place a lot of pressure on them, but shouldn't they still like, I don't know, not be so mean about it?" Ren trailed off, as he thought that he started to ramble.

The Master simply looked at him with a frown on his face, as if he was deeply contemplating the question posed to him, but also somehow dissatisfied with being asked in the first place. Sighing once, losing some of the mystique of his appearance, he answered. "Ren." His voice was heavy, and slightly melancholic. "These are matters that someone like you could never truly understand. Where the Novices in your class had to struggle each step of their arduous way, contact to more arts and better instruction barred to them, these very same steps, to you, are more akin to a walk in your personal garden. If you want to admire the scenery, you can, and even without the instruction of a Master your road would be smooth compared to their winding paths. Moreover, even those of strong cultivation clans will be judged and possibly cut off from opportunities formerly presented to them if they do not perform up to expectations set by their families. Only those supremely confident, and imbeciles, will take the trials lightly, and most of the time they are the same. Does this answer your inquiries, my disciple?" Darkhaven, stated the question with finality, ending the conversation, before it could really begin, and definitely before Ren could learn anything about the format of the coming trials.

Instead, Ren didn't know what to say. The hateful looks of defeated disciples, and distasteful scoffs, as well as Daiyu's and the others' seriousness now made a lot more sense to him. He knew of course that cultivation wasn't easy for everyone, but he also wrongly assumed that his friends must not have any problems with it. The, now obvious, realization, that even they had struggles of their own, hit him like a slap in the face, 'why didn't I realize this earlier? Do Lin and Aya have to struggle, right now?' Ren asked himself. The surrounding spirit pressing down on him, and the Master sitting in front of him forgotten.

Seeing Ren struggle with something internally, the old Master took pity upon him. "We all have to walk our own way, Ren. As sad and unbecoming this reality might be, you are not responsible for the trials and tribulations of those you might come to call friends. Instead, embrace this feeling of impotence, and strive to even greater heights, for while you can not walk the path of others, someone strong can surely straighten out the way." The man said, and before Ren could further contemplate this, Darkhaven moved on.

"Now! We still have a lesson to be conducted, and while you simply enduring the pressure I put on your spirit and body is already a type of training that others would kill for, I shall also kindly impart my wisdom to you." Darkhaven looked quite satisfied with his image, even combing his beard with his left hand.

Ren barely caught himself from sighing looking at the man, who seemed so profound a minute ago, and was now more akin to a well-fed house cat, in Ren's opinion at least.

"The lesson of today is about the connection of body and spirit, and their relation to specific arts, such as your 'body of the sword'."

Darkhaven folded his arms, and looked at Ren as if to make sure that he was listening, and then continued. "As you might already know, simply the act of deepening your pool of spirit and letting it flow throughout your body strengthens it. Why should someone then learn another art simply to further strengthen it, wasting precious time that could be spent on pushing for higher realms? The answer, for most, is simple: they can not reach a higher realm and thus look into other ways to still improve. This is quite common, and you will see that most Masters have at least some accomplishments when it comes to body arts." The old man paused for a moment, considering how to move on. Ren was already intrigued. Why then did Darkhaven want him to learn the body art of his manual?

After some time, the man continued, nodding to himself. "What most people do not know, is that cultivating a body art not only reinforces the mortal coil, but through the continuous infusion of spirit you will also be able to take spirit in as well as circulate slightly easier. The emphasis has to be on slightly, as it is truly an insignificant increase." Illusions of instantly flooding rivers with his spirit and crushing mountains with his bare fist started disappearing from Ren's head. "But now, for the third reason why people cultivate body arts, and why I insisted on you cultivating yours. The survivability that a body art brings, be it the ability to regenerate, avoid attacks or simple endurance, any body art gives you a measure of all this. Besides the wonders of alchemy, this is also the reason you rarely see a cultivator severely wounded, as you will either be able to recover or die from the ordeal. Now let us revise and discuss your progress."

The next hours were mostly spent talking about the different patterns and paths that spirit used to flow, how Ren should better nourish his bones before his tendons and then muscles, and even corrections in his swordplay were pointed out. He was instinctively too aggressive in his style, Darkhaven told him. Swordplay had to be balanced, as all things. They talked about his friends, and how Ren was learning to play chess, and the Master even advised him on it, talking about following the principles, and how he, as a beginner, should try to get his king to safety before attacking. All the while, the surrounding spirit was still pressing down on Ren, but as the atmosphere felt more like Ren thought it should feel between a disciple and his master, it was easily forgotten.

Ren even thought that, had he a grandfather, he should be like Darkhaven.

Alas, all things must come to an end, and so did this lesson. Other than the other meetings, the old man bid him goodbye with a smile.

When Ren came upon the clearing next to the waterfall, he could already sense the others training, Xiao Bao and Ling Sen were running and occasionally throwing a punch, while Daiyu and little Fatty meditated.

Spying him first, Bao greeted him. "Hey, Ren, how did your lesson with the old man go? This was the longest one yet, and we even thought of simply going home." She said with a grin on her face.

Ren mirrored her grin. "It was amazing, the old man even taught me a little chess, just you see I will beat you in no time."

"Sure you will, Ren. In a thousand years, maybe." Bao said in a teasing voice, and the others joined in jovially, and in good humour.

Ren had to smile again, seeing the interactions of the four. And even though Ren could not understand their struggles, he did understand that he would dearly want to save their smiles and pave their way, as they all walked farther on this road.

Together.