The evening breeze swept through the Ash District as Kyle pushed open the dojo's weathered wooden doors.
Elias was seated cross-legged in the center of the hall, his eyes closed in meditation.
Without opening them, he spoke.
"You took your time."
Kyle smiled sheepishly.
"I got distracted."
"Hm."
Elias opened one eye.
"The portal?"
Kyle nodded.
"I learned quite a lot."
"Good."
"The more you know about this world..."
"...the longer you'll survive in it."
Kyle suddenly remembered something.
His smile immediately faded.
"...Master."
"What?"
"I have a small problem."
Elias looked at him.
Kyle slowly turned his phone around.
Credits Remaining: 5
Silence.
Elias stared at the screen.
Then at Kyle.
"...You left here with over sixty credits."
Kyle rubbed the back of his head.
"My breakthrough..."
"It made me hungry."
Elias waited.
Kyle coughed.
"...Very hungry."
"...How hungry?"
"I may have eaten enough for three people."
The dojo became completely silent.
Elias slowly closed his eyes.
"I leave you alone for one afternoon..."
"...and somehow you return broke."
Kyle laughed awkwardly.
"So..."
"I was wondering..."
"...if I could get an advance."
Elias raised an eyebrow.
"An advance?"
"I'll pay you back."
"With what?"
Kyle thought for several seconds.
"...I'll figure that one out later."
Elias looked at him for a very long time.
Then he sighed.
"You truly are my disciple."
He casually picked up his phone and tapped the screen several times.
Ding.
Kyle's phone vibrated.
He looked down.
Credit Transfer Received.
+500 Credits
Current Balance: 505 Credits
Kyle's eyes widened.
"Master..."
"This is too much."
Elias snorted.
"No."
"You'll think it's too little after your next breakthrough."
Kyle couldn't help laughing.
"I suddenly don't feel like breaking through anymore."
"Too late."
Elias stood.
"You've already started."
He walked toward the back of the dojo.
"Come."
Kyle quickly followed.
The old man stopped before what appeared to be an ordinary wooden wall.
He pressed his palm against it.
Rumble...
The wall slowly slid aside.
Kyle's eyes widened.
Behind it...
Was an enormous room.
Weapon racks stretched from one end to the other.
Spears.
Sabers.
Axes.
War hammers.
Daggers.
Bows.
Shields.
Training dummies.
Massive stone boulders.
Mana-conducting pillars.
Every piece of equipment looked expensive.
Kyle stared in disbelief.
"Master..."
"I thought this dojo only had the training hall."
Elias walked inside.
"So did everyone else."
Kyle looked around again.
"Where did all these cultivation tools come from?"
Elias didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward the center of the room.
Kyle frowned.
"...Master?"
Elias glanced over his shoulder.
"A cultivator should ask questions that make him stronger."
Kyle scratched his cheek.
"...You still didn't answer."
A faint smile appeared on Elias' face.
"You'll earn that answer one day."
Kyle knew better than to keep asking.
He silently followed.
Elias stopped before the weapon racks.
"Choose."
Kyle blinked.
"Choose?"
"A weapon."
"The one you'll begin your journey with."
Kyle slowly approached the racks.
His eyes first settled on a long steel spear.
He lifted it.
It felt balanced.
He gave it several thrusts.
Whoosh!
The weapon cut through the air beautifully.
Kyle tried spinning it.
Then frowned.
"...Too long."
"It feels like the weapon is moving before I can think."
He carefully returned it.
Next...
A massive battle axe.
The moment he lifted it...
His shoulders dipped.
"...Heavy."
He managed a single swing.
WHOOM!
The weight nearly pulled him off balance.
Kyle hurriedly steadied himself.
"...Definitely not."
Behind him...
Elias quietly pretended not to notice.
Kyle moved on.
He picked up twin daggers.
Quick.
Light.
He tested them for several moments.
"...Too short."
"I'd have to get too close."
Back onto the rack they went.
A war hammer came next.
Kyle barely managed two swings before putting it down.
"...Who in their right mind willingly fights with this?"
This time...
Elias actually coughed.
Kyle wasn't sure if the old man was hiding a laugh.
Finally...
His eyes landed on a simple wooden sword.
It wasn't decorated.
It wasn't flashy.
Compared to the other weapons...
It almost looked ordinary.
Kyle wrapped his hand around its grip.
His fingers tightened naturally.
He gave it one slow swing.
Then another.
The movement felt...
Comfortable.
Almost effortless.
The sword seemed to move exactly where he wanted it to.
Kyle smiled.
"...This one."
Elias nodded.
"I thought so."
Kyle looked surprised.
"You already knew I'd choose a sword?"
Elias folded his hands behind his back.
"No."
"The sword chose you."
Kyle looked down at the wooden blade again.
For some reason...
Those words felt strangely true.
Kyle tightened his grip on the wooden sword.
It felt almost weightless in his hands.
As though it had always belonged there.
Elias walked toward one of the massive stone boulders standing in the middle of the training room.
He rested his palm against it.
“This will be your first training partner.”
Kyle looked at the boulder before looking back at Elias.
“…I was expecting a person.”
“You’ll fight people later.”
“For now…”
“The stone won’t complain when you make mistakes.”
Kyle smiled helplessly.
“I suppose that’s true.”
Elias turned around.
“From this moment onward…”
“…we begin training your skills.”
Kyle blinked.
“My skills?”
“You thought awakening alone made you strong?”
Kyle scratched his head.
“…A little.”
Elias snorted.
“The world has handed you a loaded gun.”
“But you don’t even know how to pull the trigger.”
“What good is power if you can’t use it?”
Kyle immediately straightened his posture.
“I understand.”
Elias nodded approvingly.
“Good.”
He flicked his wrist.
Two ancient jade slips appeared in his hand.
Kyle’s eyes widened.
“…Master…”
“Weren’t your hands empty just now?”
“They were.”
“Then where did those come from?”
Elias calmly placed the jade slips on a nearby table.
“The same place the weapons came from.”
Kyle’s eyes lit up.
“So where is—”
Elias raised a finger.
“You’ll earn that answer.”
Kyle sighed.
“…One day.”
“One day.”
Elias pushed the first jade slip toward him.
“Foundation Sword Art.”
“The first technique every swordsman should learn.”
Kyle picked it up.
“It sounds… ordinary.”
“It is.”
Kyle blinked.
“It isn’t meant to be flashy.”
“It is meant to teach control.”
Elias continued,
“The stronger a technique becomes…”
“…the more precise your mana control must be.”
“If your foundation is weak…”
“Every powerful sword technique you learn afterward will also be weak.”
He pushed the second jade slip toward Kyle.
“Mana Guard.”
“A defensive technique.”
Kyle looked confused.
“A shield?”
Elias nodded.
“Most fools rush to learn how to attack.”
“The wise first learn how to survive.”
“A dead swordsman never swings his blade again.”
Kyle nodded seriously.
“I’ll learn both.”
“Good.”
Elias folded his arms.
“There is one more thing.”
“You have exactly…”
“…one month…”
“…until the Dawn Awakener Academy Entrance Examination.”
Kyle froze.
“…One month?”
“Yes.”
“But…”
His eyes narrowed.
“Master.”
“I never told you when the examination was.”
Elias simply smiled.
“I know.”
Kyle blinked.
“…How?”
The old man chuckled quietly.
“I know many things.”
He turned away before adding,
“You’ll eventually stop asking how I know…”
“…and start asking why.”
Kyle stared at his master’s back.
For some reason…
That answer created even more questions.
Elias continued as though nothing had happened.
“Listen carefully.”
“Every cultivation technique has Nine Levels of Mastery.”
Kyle’s attention immediately returned.
“Nine?”
“Yes.”
“Level One.”
“Level Two.”
“Level Three.”
…
“Level Nine.”
“When you reach the Ninth Level…”
“The technique reaches perfection.”
Kyle’s eyes widened.
“And then?”
“It evolves.”
“Evolves?”
“A weak technique becomes a stronger technique.”
“A stronger technique evolves into an even higher-grade art.”
“The path of mastery never truly ends.”
Kyle looked down at the jade slip in his hand.
“So this Foundation Sword Art…”
“…is only the beginning.”
Elias smiled.
“Exactly.”
“Now…”
“Begin.”
The next twenty days disappeared like flowing water.
Every morning…
Kyle trained his body.
Every afternoon…
He practiced the Foundation Sword Art.
Every evening…
He trained Mana Guard.
Every night…
He cultivated using the Ninefold Heavenly Circuit.
Again.
And again.
And again.
He failed thousands of times.
His sword swings lacked precision.
His mana collapsed before it reached the blade.
His Mana Guard shattered seconds after forming.
Each failure was met with another correction from Elias.
“Again.”
“Too slow.”
“Again.”
“Too much mana.”
“Again.”
“Control.”
“Again.”
The old man never raised his voice.
He simply demanded perfection.
By the tenth day…
Kyle finally sensed the rhythm of the Foundation Sword Art.
By the fifteenth…
Mana began gathering naturally along the edge of his wooden sword.
By the twentieth…
Something changed.
Kyle inhaled deeply.
Mana flowed from his core.
Along his arm.
Into the wooden blade.
He stepped forward.
And swung.
SHHHHNK!
A pale crescent of mana tore free from the sword.
It flew through the air in a perfect arc.
BOOOOM!!
The slash struck the massive boulder.
Stone fragments exploded everywhere.
When the dust settled…
A deep cut stretched across the center of the rock.
Kyle lowered the sword.
“…Was that good?”
Silence.
Elias stared at the boulder.
His pupils contracted.
Impossible…
That wasn’t merely the power of a newly awakened Low Rank One.
That strike…
…was comparable to a Mid-Level Rank One cultivator who had already reached the Fourth or Fifth Level of the Foundation Sword Art.
Kyle has only just reached the First Level.
This shouldn’t be possible.
His gaze shifted to Kyle.
His comprehension…
His mana purity…
The simultaneous breakthrough refined both beyond reason.
And the Space Element…
It’s subtly amplifying everything he does.
Kyle scratched his head awkwardly.
“…Master?”
Elias slowly regained his composure.
“Hm?”
“Was it bad?”
The old man looked at him for a long
“Acceptable”
Then calmly pointed toward another boulder.
“Again.”
Kyle nodded enthusiastically.
“Got it!”
Without another word…
He raised his wooden sword once more, completely unaware that what he considered “normal” would leave even seasoned cultivators speechless.