For the umpteenth time, Gin felt incredulous. It took all his will not to clutch at his head in the purest form of frustration. Vicious old man, it has to be old age, has to be. You threw the daggers yourself, yeah! I must have wronged you somehow in my past life, yes? Were you my child and I, your father, didn't feed you your favorite foods?!

Gin stared at Il San, then at the daggers, and back again. With a heavy sigh of one who'd lived to be 1,000 years of age, Gin resigned himself to his fate. What did he know? The old man did say it was a test. A test of patience, Gin assumed sagely. Bending by the waist, he picked up the first dagger.

The daggers were similar to one another, and the craftsmanship was very slick. Symmetry nearing perfection. The slow shimmer from the daggers as light bounced off them was dazzling. Picking up the first dagger, Gin felt the smoothness of the white leather-bound grip and the slightly weighty metal. However, it felt odd in his hands. Not like a knife, not like holding anything he had ever held. Gin chalked it up to it being the first time to have held something so eccentric and out of his life’s experience. Frowning, he placed the dagger in his right hand as he went for the others. Pushing the discomfort inducing worries aside, Gin focused on finishing the annoying chore quickly.

That was a mistake. As he shifted over to take the second dagger, his back almost gave out. The dagger didn't budge off the floor as easily as the first one. It was heavier, Gin registered that, but the size of the dagger and it's overall look was the same as that in his other hand, and those on the floor following it. In bafflement, he steadied himself and made for the dagger again. To his thankless laborious efforts, he finally took it and placed it in his hand.

Gin nervously glanced at Il San, but he found that the old man was expressionless. It seemed... all was well, all was normal, the same size, different weights… But, this Gin couldn't register. Knowing he wouldn't get any answers and with nothing to say, Gin went for the next dagger. His right hand was feeling the unpleasant weight of the daggers. He didn't want to put them down just in case he failed because of it since with Il San's temper it was all but possible. With the previous experience in mind, he took caution as he bent over to pick the third dagger, and it was the right decision. He wasn't able to lift or move the dagger for even an inch. It stuck to the floor as if unwilling to give way.

Just like your owner! Gin cursed to himself as he furrowed his brow. He unhesitatingly threw the two daggers on his right hand aside; if him freeing up his hand was a negative, it mattered not. Not when a piece of metal wanted to challenge him thus! Using both his hands, Gin proceeded to display a fruitless game of tag as he tried to peel the dagger off the floor.

It was all a useless effort. What in ba's sake is this?!

Taking the sleeves of his robes one at a time, he folded them haphazardly and spread his legs apart, preparing himself. He took another heave at the dagger. His fingers, wrapped tightly around the dagger's hilt from the small space between it and the floor, brushed roughly on the mats, but never lifted off. Nothing at all. But the fogey… had just casually thrown these things like stick candy. What is this!?

"Well, that will do. You are Level 2 in strength. Very typical for non-Divine Art users," Il San spoke emotionlessly as he went to Gin's side.

"Just… Are these the same kind of daggers that Flower uses? What are they even made of?" Gin inquired while straightening up, supporting his waist by pressing a hand to the back of it. He truly looked, and felt, pitiful.

"No. Flower's daggers are a little special. The material is called Ash Metal," Il San said as he picked up the dagger. He had picked them up like he was holding empty air. Standing, he looked at Gin with an incomprehensible look.

"How unoriginal..." Gin mattered with some bitterness. Ash Wood, Ash Metal, picking up heavy bricks in the form of daggers like they are nothing... The old man was definitely a demon in disguise. How else would it be alright to subject someone to such torture in the name of testing? However… It could have been worse, no? Gin shook his head to perish such vile thoughts.

"Yes, I'm sure you would think so, but they all come from the same tree. A tree with the metal properties on its crown, and wood from its heartwood. The bark, phloem, cambium, and xylem of the tree can be mixed and grounded to a fine powder for the strengthening of the metal properties. The crown of one tree can be used to make two daggers. As for Flower's daggers, those are two trees used to make one dagger, and the powder of one tree was all used for those two daggers. Meaning twice the amount of the fourth dagger from the selection I had you pick up," Il San recounted with a vaguely satisfied expression.

Not knowing what he should do with all he learned, Gin could only look at his Master with a ridiculous expression. First, metals from trees now?! Not just any metal, but a metal that made the monstrosities he tried to lift? If we look at the prime definition of monstrosities, Flower was carrying four times the amount. Why then shouldn't Divine Art users be identified as one of the gods?

"The extraction of Ash Wood and Ash Metal is very lengthy and this expends a lot of energy and money. This makes it a rare commodity. Now that the gods' stones are rare, so are the refinements processes of Ash Wood and Ash Metal. This makes them a niche of some sort, and all that further pushing Divine Art as a calling for those with a title or capital," when uttering this, Il San walked to the hidden storage space, placed the daggers back, and the entrance reverted back to a wall.

"What an impossible endeavor," Gin observed from Il San's words.

"Rather than it being impossible, in a sense, it's its own nature, it was just made impossible as time went on. With the low supply of the stones, fewer and fewer people would have the need for Ash Wood and Ash Metal furniture or weapons." Il San looked at Gin steadily.

"So, they made sure to market their products to the rich early since they would have been the ones to benefit most from the changes." Gin observed further.

He figured if his father would take the time and day to reconsider his life choices, they may have an opportunity to make a lot of money.

"Say, Master. Are there specific foods that Divine Art users need to eat? On the same subject, is there a Harvesting or Farmers Association in regards to harvesting the gods' stones?" Still hunching over, Gin rubbed his palms together greedily.

°°

Il San resettled his eyes to a look filled to the brim with disdain. Gin had to admit, he was getting quite fond of the expression.

"There are no special foods for Divine Art users. At most, a highly condensed gods’ dust made by isolating and dowsing the dust in a mixture of water and the pounded petals of its flower, can make potions to revive the body after training for Divine Art users. Not even the School of Craft can make edible food from materials used for the Divinity. There are no special plants, drinks, or anything of the sort specifically for the normal ingestion of Divine Art users. There is a limit to what the Divine Art can do. Just because we practice it, doesn't mean we are gods or can become gods.

"I can't believe I have to deign to answer such a question, but no, there is no 'harvesting association' for the collection of the stones. The Crafters have this particular part covered anyway."

Gin wasn't in the least bit deterred, "Oh, is that so. But Master, you and Spear obviously eat normal foods, yes? So, all the Art users have the same old constitution at the end of the day, yeah? Why not start a couple of eateries for Divine Art users all over Jade. The user could go to the places once in a while, show off their presence and—"

"Young Gin, if you haven't been paying attention, the Art is limited to the Palace alone, unless you are willing to be charged by death, then by all means. Secondly, Divine Art users are not pansies or meant for exhibition, and we aren't worthy of such grand treatment!" Il San's voice chilled the Training Hall. However, it didn't cause Gin any scare as he mumbled a 'not so sure about that…' under his breath.

Il San's eyes bore into Gin. It was as if he was trying to make sure that the young boy got the repetitive last bits of his statements in his head at the very least. "While we are on the matter of limitations... you want to endeavor in the School of Thought, but I can easily dissuade you. The most prominent School is the School of Martial Arts. This is because the School requires the tempering of the body.

"A selected few can be nurtured to be in the School of Thought. Its requirements are higher, the time it takes to temper one's mind is far longer than that of the body. Prior exposure to the Fighting Arts could be an added advantage, but it isn't the say all. Younglings much older than you were able to easily defeat those who had the advantages you think you need. Yes, every craft can be fine-tuned with time, but some of the crafts can be easier to obtain than the next. Speaking of crafts, the School of Crafts, which should seem like a place to invite one and all, is even more stringent with its disciples.

"The power for creating a semblance of living things is phenomenal but, other than tempering the mind and body, those with this ability are chosen by luck. You could participate in the Night of Immersion and get chosen with Crafting. Among the Divinities that are unpredictable, this is one. It has plagued the Clergy and Priests for centuries. They may train a disciple in Martial Arts, only for the ghosts of crafts to possess them. This is the real meaning of the Divination of the Art."

Thick silence filled the room. Gin stared attentively at his Master. Though the lecture started abruptly, it was still intriguing. Waiting for the old one to continue, Gin wanted to know more, however...

"That will be all for today. Go to your room and rest. In an hour, I'll have some scrolls delivered to you for further studies on the Divine Art, mainly its history and uses in Martial Arts." With that, Il San turned and left the Training Hall. He walked away as if he hadn't been responsible for ruining someone's steady views of life as they knew it, again.

Gin slid down to the floor, his head turned and staring unblinkingly at the wall where the hidden storage space was located. Pasting his body fully on the mats, he felt like he was slapped across the face, and left with no ointment to offer relief. He suddenly recalled Spear's words:

'It will be hellish.'

Well, if this is half of what he meant then hurrah to him! Although, in truth, Gin could only stand there and listen. Even if his Master had cuddled him with the information, it would have the same results as now. The cartload of information still clogged his brain. He mostly had many questions and theories, and reading for himself and finding the answers to the questions he had was indeed a great method. A guaranteed method, though infuriating, the old Master was right. He just learned the basics of the basics. The door was open, he needed to enter. Il San was clearly not the kind of man to push him through or guide him gently through the door.

Gin sighed heavily. He turned to glare at the ceiling, only to be given a shock when four large eyes stared back at him. A flat curving of two, strangely intertwined bulls glaring intensely. His heart palpated for a second before calming down again, the carvings were very realistic, the dark wood was shimmering slightly, and Gin had doubts whether it was from the light coming off the large windows, or something else. Thinking he may be drawing himself too deeply on a simple matter, Gin ignored it and proceeded to spread out his arms and legs.

Frowning, he lost himself in further thought on the Art. His intrigue was caught in how the Art was well hidden. How much effort was placed for the results to reach this point? Maybe, over the years with the decline of gods' stones the Palace steadily had people under them gather everything related to the Divine Art and had them sent and centered in the Palace and Noble Ward? Then they had people with the Divinity placed inside the Palace Walls as well...

But, that wouldn't be a small number of people. How were they able to deter them from leaking out all that information? The rewards from the previous Kings must have been good. Payment or deterrence, harsh ones at that. However, couldn't there have been at least one loose clog that wanted to 'share the knowledge of the gods as it was intended'?

It wasn’t as if a risk for such a thing didn't exist, especially since, apparently, there was a Decree set. This would mean if disobeyed then death to all traitors. Nonetheless, Gin believed that the snippets that were spread had been told by the past generations who had witnessed the Divine Art, somewhat, more freely than his time. Although the words from their ancestors became murky through the grapevine of time, it made the Divine Art akin to gods and other impossible stories. Then, of course, the five Legends had changed that as people got to have more information sip in and corrected; well, as best as the source would allow for such things. What was a rumor of the Art being passed down through a Noble Lineage, now was a rumor about it being a playtime for the Nobles, rich, and any other that could afford it. As time went on, how else would it have been presented? Were the rumors spread also intentional? It would make sense if they were.

However, wouldn't the Celebration of the King's Rule make the whole process redundant? And, why continue if the five have already shown the fits of the Art? Though, Gin had to question if the five were in it as well, since they cared little for showcasing the Art, so why not spread the word? Maybe the Decree set, limited them more than most? Gin couldn't see that stopping someone like Flower. Although, besides Flame though, no one in Flower's merry band of misfits was known to be a Divine Art user…. If this was indeed a fact, then Gin had to admit that the situation was bizarre at best.

The Divine Art had been presented as a Fighting Art from who knows when. But who knew that two more disciplines existed? '...painting the wind with spectacular images...' doesn't even begin to cover the variations and possibilities of the Divine Art. If taken in the form of practicality, then Martial Arts takes the bread home, but the School of Thought was intriguing too. Though he didn't know their form of 'Foundation', Gin could easily imagine all the information he could learn and apply with that mental capacity.

Speaking of applied knowledge, since these Divine Art users do exist, then why haven't there been significant improvements in people's living conditions at this point?

I'm sure that they could have found a solution to a lot of things, no? And the crafts, I believe they aren't limited to just removing money from drawings, so couldn't they be counted on to craft things like houses and roads? Hm? Was that how it went? Probably not, as the Master did say it wasn’t perfect, but wait... Why would a Noble go out of their way to do such a thing? There is still a status quo, and Nobles to do all that for commoners of all people would be truly strange. But, even if that was the case, the King should have at least — no, no, that would defeat the whole purpose of keeping the Divine Art a secret, and... How many greedy individuals would cause havoc over gods' stones if this information was known? The old man really did a shoddy job with explaining things, damn it!