Chapter XIX: Conditioning and Tempering

Mind Net, City Nineteen

Month of the Garuda 33, 172 ,328 DE

"Just how much have you been holding back against me ? You've never used anything like that technique before." I give Hatchet a wry smirk.

"It's a new technique. I recently had a breakthrough. Don't mind. Don't mind." While Hatchet's expression may be hidden by his mask, his scent conveys a mixture of smugness and irritation.

We are both speaking the Sengoku language, hut Hatchet's manner of speaking resembles that of people in the Sengoku Empire. My speech resembles the hicks living in the Heian Kingdom. At the moment, Hatchet's speech reveals an odd accent he normally never has. It sounds similar to how the few engineers I have met from the Dunkle Sonne Empire speak. With those grey eyes of his, he might be someone from there.

I grin. "Do you want to continue?"

"Again!"

* * * * *

As Hatchet floats in the air around fifty meters over the stage in our stadium, hundreds of compressed air blades surround him. When he started his latest Martial technique, I did not interfere, and this is the result.

"Die, Beast." Hatchet speaks the words in a soft voice, and the scent of his frustration fills the air that has been roiled by his Martial technique.

Raising his arm over his head, Hatchet slashes toward me, and the hundreds of air blades streak downward at the same time. With the air blades so closely packed, I have no room to dodge. I sprint for the outer edge of the mass, but the trajectories of the air blades shifts to follow me. I leap forward, but before I am clear, multiple air blades slice into me.

I see both of my severed arms go flying, and blackness overtakes my vision.

As my vision returns, I see Hatchet standing in his starting position. I reveal a wry smile. "You win."

Hatchet clenches his fist, and his voice comes out as an angry rasp. "You call that winning? Seventeen losses. I had seventeen straight losses, and if you had not let me set up my technique, it would have been eighteen."

I laugh. "If I don't see techniques like yours first hand, I won't know how to deal with something similar when I see it in the real world. I lost fair and square. I have no way to deal with an area bombardment like that."

Hatchet scoffs. "You have over fifteen straight wins. I'll teach Crazy Girl three Martial techniques. I know quite a number that have no requirements for any Elemental Affinity."

"Aoi isn't a crazy girl!"

With a snort, I roll my eyes. "Teach Crazy Girl one movement technique and two attack techniques, one for close combat and one for ranged. I'll fight with you some more afterward. I'm curious to see how you get all those techniques off with me in your face."

"You don't want me to teach her a defensive technique?" Hatchet's surprise tints his scent.

I look at Aoi. "No. I'll help her with her Body Tempering. In two months, I can bring her to the peak for a Qi Condensation Cultivator."

Prancing over to us, Aoi grabs onto my arm. "Aoi wants Beast to use her hard. Make Aoi strong. Beast can have Aoi's body to sate his lusts."

Looking at Aoi, Hatchet shakes his head. "I see why you call her Crazy Girl."

"Aoi isn't crazy!"

Prying Aoi off my arm, I push her into the space between Hatchet and myself. "Let's get started."

Shizukana Gake, The Great Plateau

Month of the Garuda 33, 172 ,328 DE

Opening my eyes, I see a petulant Sato Maki staring at me. Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the training hall, she has one elbow on her thigh, with her chin resting on her palm. The falling half-open front of her kimono exposes a huge expanse of her over-sized tits. How she can function as a blacksmith with those massive sacks of fat hanging from her chest is beyond me.

"Maki should stop showing off her udders. Beast likes Aoi's small tits." Next to me, Aoi proudly claps her hands to her almost flat chest.

Glancing down at her mostly exposed tits, Sato Maki grins at Aoi. "No man can resist big breasts. They all turn into babies when they see them. They fall all over themselves just to fondle and suckle big breasts."

With a salacious expression, Sato Maki looks at me, and her fingers part her kimono a little more. "That's true. Isn't is, Beast?"

I glance disdainfully at Sato Maki's almost completely exposed chest. "Your tits are too big. They ruin the lineaments of an otherwise excellent body."

Aoi grabs onto my arm. "Aoi told you! Beast likes Aoi's small tits!"

Sato Maki's expression changes to a confused frown, and for a moment, her eyes dart around the room. "You're back awfully quickly. I thought you were going to train Aoi in the Dream World."

Still clinging to my arm, Aoi displays a confused expression. "We trained for more than half the day."

Sato Maki scoffs. "It hasn't been more than a quarter of an hour."

"An hour in the Mind Net is roughly a minute in the real world. That's part of why you don't want to expose your identity and get trapped someplace that allows combat."

Both of the Sato Sisters gape at me. I do not know how much commoners actually know about the Mind Net. The Dream World is generally considered to be the property of the Temple of the Celestial Court, and a territory that only elite Cultivators ever get access to. Aoi is an outsider in the Academy and her sister is not even a Cultivator. The amount of accurate information they would have access to would be limited. It is not surprising they do not know about how the Mind Net works.

"When freed from the constraints of the Body, the Mind can function at its full capability. Your thoughts become thousands of times faster than they are while bound by flesh. The Mind Net exists in the Eidos, the Realm of Mind. What you perceive as your Body is nothing more than a Mind construct that mimics your physical body in the Soma, the Realm of Body."

Expressions of confusion paint both the sisters' faces. Other than Old Man Jones and myself, there may not be another living being on the Great Plateau that understands the truth of our tripart existence.

"What you see as our world is nothing more than a part of the whole. Our world, our universe, consists of three sub-realms: Soma, Eidos, and Pneuma. Normally, you can only perceive the Soma. Every living creature consists of three parts: a Body, a Mind, and a Soul. Of the three, the Soul is the most important part to be considered alive, but we are creatures that primarily live through our Body. Humans animals, and most Ferocious Beasts can only perceive the Soma, the Realm of Body. To perceive the others requires a special disposition or special training."

Sato Maki's expression changes from confusion to disbelief, but looking like she learned an amazing secret, Aoi smiles. "Pervert Master. Can you teach Aoi to see the Eidos and Pneuma?"

I give Aoi a frown. "Do you want to work on your perception of the other Realms or strengthen your body so that you pass the exams for a Cultivation College?"

After frowning for a moment, Aoi displays a brilliant smile. "Both!"

"Not enough time. Pick one." I do not bother keeping my irritation from slipping into my voice.

"Strength. Aoi wants to go to Cultivation College with Beast."

Standing up and dragging Aoi, who is still clinging to my arm, I slap my stomach. "Hit me. I want to see how hard you can hit."

Whap!

Without any hesitation, Aoi lets go of my arm and punches me with her full strength and speed. She uses the basic form taught by the Academy in the Combat Arts class, which is neither terrible nor exceptional. Her punch hits with a decent amount of force for her mass and Cultivation level.

"Keep hitting me."

Whap! Whap! Whap!

Punches. Kicks. Elbows. Knees. Primarily targeting my abdomen and legs, Aoi throws everything she knows at me. She does little more than leave me with slightly reddened skin. If I let her continue long enough, she would bruise me, but without targeting my knees, balls, or similar weak points, she lacks the power to do any real damage to me.

"Enough. Let me see your arms and legs."

Examining Aoi's hands and elbows, they already show signs of bruising. Her shins and feet are in the same condition. Despite my Body being several times tougher than anyone she is likely to face in the combat portion of the Cultivation College examinations, her body is just too soft.

"Take off your yukata."

With a huge grin, Aoi strips off her yukata. Clad only in a fundoshi, something not commonly worn by women, she proudly displays her naked chest.

"Beast! What are you doing to my sister?!" Sato Maki's face flushes dark red, and she glares daggers at me.

"Stay silent and don't interfere." I turn a cold stare on Sato Maki and maintain my glare until she visibly wilts.

"Will Pervert Master satiate his lusts with Aoi's body? Heh. Heh-heh. Heh."

Clonk.

"Ow!" Aoi rubs the red spot my finger flick left on her forehead.

I take a stance that I use when doing body conditioning exercises with Old Man Jones. "Aoi, copy my stance."

With Aoi in a clumsy imitation of my stance, I adjust her posture and the positioning of her limbs. "Tense your muscles and compress you torso. I'm going to hit you. I'm going to go easy on you. I won't use metal rods, but this will hurt, a lot. After I finish, I'll put you in an herbal bath. It will heal the damage and strengthen your soft tissues. You should notice an immediate difference. Since your body is almost entirely lacking in conditioning and tempering, with proper training, you'll progress quickly."