The cave system was huge. Jin couldnt see the end of it, but it was impossible to return the way he came as it was to slippery to climp back up. Jin decided the only way was to find another way out. As Jin was walking around the cave system and saw a small shadow speeding away, I remember reading that inside most cave are small to big animals, almost all of them are carnivours better be carefull. Jin took out his black wind fom his spatial ring and continued further and deeper into the cave.

When Jin was moving deeper and deeper down the cave, he encountered his first group of animals. Recalling his encounter with the bandits and the sorry state he ended up in Jin knew he lacked battle experience, and decided this was a good oppurtunity to get some. After studying the creatures he realized they where some kind of ratlike creauters the size of dogs, and remember reading about them in the library of the Yi clan.

They where a vicious kind of breed with poisonous teeth and and razor sharp claws, that always attacked in a pack. He knew he could easily take them out with his earth and wind magic, but the whole point was for him to gather some real battle experience so he decided to use his black wind and martial art.

Jin moved through the pack of those rat like creatures and esaily dispatched the creatures one after the other without so much as a scratch to himself. Rather pleased with what he had accomplished Jin moved deeper into the cave. Soon he found himself surrounded by the same rat creatures, but his time their number far exceeded thousand.

Jin knew he now was at a disadvantage and couldnt possible kill the creautures while surronded and ran towards a group of the rat creatures and dispatced them as easily as the first group he had encountered earlier. After making an opening, he quickly moved to a place easier to defend. He positioned himself with his back to the wall knowing retreating now, was impossible. Jin knew this was the safest place not to become overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of his enemys.

One after another of the aggresive and fierce rat creatures met their demise at the blade of black wind. The creatures soon realised that they could not get close enough to kill and tried to exhaust him and look for any openings with continued fierce and savage attacks. To bad they did not know when Jin came up with his flowing arts, it was becuse of his weak body could not countinue with normal martial arts as it exhausted him.

His flowing arts was created to not use much of his own strength but still be effective against

other martial arts. After Jin had melded with the imperial sword which was the most offensive of all warrior techniques his attacks was not just more fluid and much faster but sharper and more deadly, as his black wind sliced through his enemys in a fluid, fast and deadly motion.

Jin continued to kill the creautures with ease and without getting tired.The creatures seemed to decided on an all out attack, as every last one started to speed towards Jin screeching and screaming. Just as they enterd into range, each and everyone of the creatures wailed and screamed in pain as they were pierced through by Jins earth spikes.

Jin knew that without his magic he would be in bad shape, even if he had manged to kill his way through. Jin knew he never would have avoided their poisoned claws and teeth he would be scratched or bitten, maybe both, been poisoned and without any antidote he would have died.

Jin decided to rest, he needed a safe place to sleep. He climbed the walls and found a place to build his own cave, he used his earth magic to extract the the rocks from the cave wall. With a hole in the cave wall he made himself as comfortable as he could, then he closed the opening with his earth magic and fell asleep.

The next day he woke up feeling the hunger from not eating yesterday, after all that had happened Jin had forgotten to eat. Luckily he had stored food in his spatial ring. Jin had after all more then once, forgotten to eat when getting lost in his training. After continuously going hungry after training, he had learned his lesson and he always carried food in his spatial ring.

After eating his fill, Jin decided to continue his exploring of the cave and went deeper. Jin found more and more creatures scattered around the cave, and continued on the path the day before to gather experience. Weeks passed as he continued down the path of the cave at the same time getting more experience fighting to the death. This resulted in his senses sharpened and his flowing emperor arts became more adapt to killing.

Jin thought to himself I am much stronger as a warrior and my body has also adapted to best execute my emperor flowing style just to bad I dont have a warriors body or even know have to practice as a warrior. When he suddnly remembered the warrior mage book his grandpa Yi had gifted him.

Jin found a spot where some rocks illuminated the surrondings and used it as a book lamp, and started to browse through the book. He stoped at one page explaining the difference between a warrior and a mage. As he read the pages that said that mages and warriors were different because of their usage of mana. It also descriped the term ordinary that applied to mages, mages was called ordinary because they were born without a dantian and could not cultivate as other warriors.

Jin understood the reason he was called ordinary. His body even if it was stronger then all mages, never could match a warrior in strength. The reason, warriors would gather the elemental essence in their body making it stronger, and mages was a conduit to pass the elemental essence through their bodys and release powerful spells.

Jin continued to read the book as he contemplated his lack of a dantian, he knew he would never be a warrior. He also with his own emperor flowing arts and his body trained through martial arts, was just as agile and fast as any warrior he had seen.

Ofcourse the highest rank warrior he had seen sparring on the imperial training ground was a rank 7 warrior and he was relying more on strength, power and agrresivenes then speed and agilty.

And even if Jin lacked the strength, and some warriors were faster or more agile, his agility and speed could still be enhanced with both training and wind magic.

When Jin was thinking of the training he saw on the imperial training ground, he started to think of his mother, remembering how he just ran off without letting his mother know after hearing his fathers real thoughts. not even talking to his mother and dissapearing in the cave for what seemed to be around a month he noticed in the corner of his eyes some light shining through a crack in the wall.

Seeing the light, Jin thought of how this could be his way out and home to his loving mother. Jin entered the crack in the wall, and it was just big enough for him to squeeze through, Jin was happy he was born a mage and not a warrior. Jin wiggled his way through the crack and could not believe what he saw.