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35 – First Step III

September 4031. Monarch Academy

For breakfast, I joined other roommates. Although it was Sunday, I didn’t waste anytime and went to library to seek for knowledge that could help me out to progress.

On the way to the library I was amazed with accomplishment, which I could make by my new improved body. I took the long way to the library. Moreover without taking a break I run almost for 10 kilometers.

My shoes and pants of the uniform had stains of dust and dirt on them but there was not even a glimpse of sweat on anywhere around my body. By being able to open the origin center the force and power that was flowing into my body had enhanced my physical power many folds.

That day in library I made a proper plan, more like a road map. I had my short-term goals divided into categories. First of all, even though my body was not an ordinary human body anymore it still had its limits. I was going to check out and understand my upper limit without using any potions.

Secondly, I didn’t have potions and I had no idea how to get them or from where to buy them. Moreover I was not planning to buy them at all. After skimming through few basic books about alchemy, I grasped overall idea behind potions. It was more like balanced chemical liquids made out of totally organic herbs, leaves and other materials.

In simple words, there was no toothpaste in this world. However there were special plant roots which were cut into 10-15cms long pieces and used to clean the tooth. Likewise to clean the breathe of mouth simply chewing mint leaves was enough.

Using same logic, as a person who lacked knowledge and experience of the proper alchemist, through rational thinking I came up with an idea. I was going to learn biology. Knowledge of healthy and beneficial herbs, plants, flowers and beast parts to the human body had to be grasped.

As a person lacking financial support to buy potions, I could be the person who would use nature to help me out. Most of the rarest herbs, plants, flowers and beast cores were going to be hard to find anyway so to buy them or potion made out of them needed extravagant amount of gold. Instead of doing so I could be a hunter-gatherer.

For the next one month, I was like a ghost in the classes and extracurricular activities. I tried to minimize my involvement at all costs which I succeeded. Library and backyard were the places where you could find me if you needed me. I was either reading and taking notes or meditating and practicing in the backyard.

Nevertheless, I didn’t break contact with everyone to be consumed in my own world. I still talked to Klytea in the class and tried my best to chat with Arman and Sofia although keeping everything to minimum. From the past life I knew that the world is cruel towards the weak and unprepared ones. I wasn’t going to slack off, in reverse I was planning to conquer.

To my surprise whoever was the headmaster of the Monarch Academy was a genius. He or She, actually had grown a forest circling the academy with full of flowers, herbs and plants that had positive medicinal effects on human body. There was even a book regarding floral life of the forest around the Monarch in the library.

Once in a week I was traveling through the forest in search of Serpent Gourd Seeds and Violet Rose leaves.

Serpent Gourd Seeds were as big as a grown man’s thumbnail. Consumption of Serpent Gourd Seeds allowed the person involved in internal cultivation to replenish physical strength and took off stress from muscles.

Seeds were not as effective as health potions. In sense you couldn’t regrow an arm by eating them but consuming a seed while practicing martial arts could help you out to increase practice time by 10 minutes.

Violet Rose leaves had different effect on body of an internal cultivation practitioner. Firstly they had to be put in between book pages to dry for two days. Later on they had to be cut to four pieces and mixed with honey and stored in dark place for another two days.

Shortly after four days of preparation, eating violet rose leaves mixed with honey would increase the capacity of the channels and meridians that were used by energy center to flow the mana within the body.

These two were the most effective that I could get by my own so I tried not to waste more time by looking for different options.

In short time of one month I made a breakthrough and opened the 2nd gate of my origin center as a martial artist. Furthermore, as a magician I went through half the hardships as a martial artists, made a breakthrough of 2 levels and ended up as a 5th level magician.

At the end of the time, I was a 2nd rank martial artist and 5th rank magician of the origin realm. The main difference between them was the usage of the mana.

As a martial artist I was using it to increase and enhance my body while as a magician I was able to cast magic spells that had no direct effect to my physical strength. Sometimes I listened to ‘geeky’ students who had debates regarding who was stronger a martial artist or a magician.

Both martial artists and magicians had their pros and cons. Martial artists were good at close combat and physical strength while magicians lacked those qualities. Nevertheless, theoretically a magician of 10th origin realm could easily take a stance against an army of 7th origin realm martial artists.

Even if it was a one on one fight nobody could predict the outcome of a match between a 9th origin realm magician and martial artist. Because war and death matches were totally different things in comparison to official spars.

Simply put, in case of a war a magician can not ask a martial artist to stay away from him/her because close-combat is not fair. Correspondingly, in a death match a martial artist can not force a magician not to put a distance.

War is a war, and death match is a death match. Whoever is sneaky, tactical and could think ahead a step or two is going to win. That’s the rule of the world. That’s the cycle of the life. You are either a pray or hunter unless you have knowledge, power and ability to change the situation.

In addition to magic and internal cultivation, during that month I layed out and practiced my version of aikido/judo. In short, I invented new martial arts, which was proficient in hand-to-hand and sword combat. Nonetheless I kept knowledge of it to myself and was not going to share any information about it to anyone.

Positive side of the combination of internal cultivation and aikido/judo was that there were endless possibilities. Hand-to-hand combat wise they were excellent in terms of attack and defense. Besides aikido had moves involving use of weapons, especially katana related moves.

In future, if I did breakthrough and reached higher levels then I was planning to come up with new combinations of moves to invent advanced and unique attack and defense power.

October 4031. Monarch Academy

I entered the classroom to see everyone seated and Maera walking right and left in anger. Noise of her teeth grinding each other was reflected within the room. Everyone turned to face me as I coughed few times to let my presence known. “Didn’t I tell you to come half-an-hour early this week?” she shouted. “I’ve forgotten… Sorry about that”, I replied.

“Alright, in one week your seniors are going to leave to south-west of Molten Peak… It is an excellent opportunity to hunt beasts in groups. Moreover it is a place where natural concentration of mana is higher than others parts of continent… Even if you meditated there cultivation will be much more easier. Any volunteers?” she asked.

“I would love to”, I said and raised my hand.

P.S: I'm planning to fasten up the pace a little bit..

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