THE JOURNEY (DESTINATION IN OBLIVION)

JOURNEY ELEVEN

~Hol~

"The sky, the earth, the arm, all together to harm" those were the words that came to my mind when buggy guy threw his arms at me, It looked like the only thing I could see was him arm. The sky and the land joined the arm as it came towards me, it looked like it had been destined by the deity himself that the hand would hit me but I have seen a lot of punches and this is not something that would threaten me the least. I quickly raised my hand to stop his, I locked on it to avoid a sonic boom. Vibration coursed through my body as I absorbed the shock to prevent noise, but to my surprise, the Shockwave generated by it still had an effect radius of about 50 meters. I shuddered backward and almost coughed up blood. I have absorbed most of the power and the shockwave is still this powerful? , I was gobsmacked by the spectacle. I wanted him to try it again but I shelved the idea to avoid suspicion. "I can't help you" I said, why? He asked, almost immediately. I can't help you If you don't tell me how you did this, I said plainly. I did it the normal way!, He retorted. When you are ready to tell the truth, come back and I will help you, I said, then went home to my seat. Am not buying his cheap story, he must have been helped by Emperor sage or something. At least you should continue teaching me, won't you? He complained, "I will continue teaching you once you tell me the truth" I answered coldly and continued learning the translated text as he scurried away disappointedly. I knew he wasn't lying though, it was a hard truth to discover, I studied him and realized he wasn't lying to an extent, there are lies embedded in his heart so I didn't believe him blindly but the power he just gained Is too powerful and it could ruin him if he doesn't stop now, I thought as I looked at him dissappear into the large expanse of the training room.

~Dave~

I don't need him anyway. I said, between gritted teeth as I went back to my room. I had resorted to training alone since the real thing was at my fingertips. I entered my room and requested for the next skill in the first part of the deity sutra. "happy to help" IP replied as he displayed it like a large led television. I started the next phase of the skill immediately.

"Dragon feet", was obviously the name of the skill and the unusual and weird preamble followed.

"The kind of fire that could burn down a house should be taken lightly" it didnt even make any sense. Or is there a mistake somewhere? isnt it supposed to be "should not be taken lightly". I was utterly confused so I wanted to skip it but it could be some kind of mystery to unravel the skills so I dwelled on it for some time and I grinned from ear to ear, it seems I got it. The person who wrote this must be good at puns, I thought, he combined fire and light and made an ironical poem about it. I skipped the preamble and contined, after few hours, I figured out I couldn't feel my legs anymore, or perhaps it was lighter and it felt like I could sprint without my legs even touching the ground. I wasn't going to stand up though, in order not the disrupt the sequential positions I was adhering to. I practiced for some hours and then I noticed that my legs were back to normal. After the whole training, I wanted to move to my bed chamber to sleep when I suddenly realized that I was walking like a new born goat. Sometimes I accelerate faster and then go back to walking normally, it looked really weird. I practiced more for a few days, and although it seemed that I was getting better, I still couldn't walk properly and anytime I entered the training hall, the students all look me weirdly so I just rounded up Dragon feet and moved to the next step, I was ready to show Hol that I was not the weak, spineless and over lucky doofus he taught I was.

I sat down ready for training again as IP displayed the Deity sutra in front of me as requested. The title of the next skill was a simple word

"Body" then beneath it was another confusing preamble "your opponent's body is your greatest strength but your body is your greatest weakness" I wiggled and jiggled my brain, squeezed out every ounce of riddle solving skill but I still couldn't figure out what the preamble meant so I ignored it and continued with the practice. After practicing for three hours, I started to feel chills running down my spine and it looked like my body was being refined, my heart beat steadily but thudfully and I felt the Impurities in my blood getting flushed away by a fresh morning wine, it was a good feeling overall but it didn't last forever though, over time, my body went back to normal and I came to the end of "Body" although the refreshing feelings were gone, I now felt my body in a different way, I felt like I could control my heart beat, I felt like I didn't need to breathe, I felt like I could control my blood rate, the amount of waste my body secretes, the amount of energy my body refines and others too. I felt alive and it felt good.

Over the course of few days, I practiced body and dragon feet at intervals and they seemed to be improving though but I still couldn't walk perfectly. Whenever am not practicing I would ask IP to bring me the latest news, music, videos from the surface. Uncle lance came to check on me a few times and I had to lie to cover myself up. It will be ridiculous if he learnt I couldn't walk perfectly but I wouldn't sit here forever though I already had a plan I felt like executing from one of my latest abilities. I stepped into the training hall and I vindicated the fact that it wasn't Uncle giving off a strange aura, the problem was from me. why do I feel like I could paralyze anyone with a smack at one point on their body. Am I going crazy.