Chapter 4: Training

Opening the door to his room, Michael took in a deep breath of the Free Spirit Candle. A smoky haze floated in the top half of the room. The smell of spices and herbs formed a fresh, yet complex odour that permeated the furniture. Although Michael had not noticed a difference in his focus and creativity up until now, the smell had become a habitual thing that provided him comfort and kept him grounded. 

He sat at his desk and set down the simple, plain wooden box. The desk itself was quite large, with a surface area of about a metre squared. 

'This is a gold coin, huh.'

Michael held up a small bulbous shaped crystal container and while it was slightly flat towards the bottom, it still held its sophisticated shape. 

Michael twisted off its wooden screwed cap allowing its sweet smell to mix with the herbal smell in the room. He pulled out a small blade from one of the cabinets and against his instincts, made a small, surface level, five cm incision. Then he dipped his finger and removed a tiny amount of the Golden Elixir, which he mixed with the warm red blood over the wound. 

Michael gave it a minute before he wiped the wound with a small cloth. He looked at his unblemished skin in amazement, the elixir really delivered!

'It's time for my afternoon training session.'

As if on cue a light knock and a heavy aged voice was heard.

"Young master, it's Ronald."

"Come in." 

Michael stepped to the side as a tall, old man in a black suit walked in, followed by two apprentice knights carrying a 3 metre tall, thin, wooden tub. Vapour floated around as the apprentices brought the tub into the bathroom. The bathroom floor was tiled exquisitely, and it easily sustained the 300 odd kilograms of the tub.

This tub was unique as it was made not for relaxing, but for the dilution of topical salves and for the complete submersion of the body, in order to absorb its complete effects.

The three figures moved routinely and were heading out the door.

"Ronald, I'm adding something to my routine so in the future, bring the tub everyday, instead of once a week."

"Yes, of course young master, if that's all, I'll be back in the early morning to retrieve this tub."

The old gentleman bowed in respect and followed the apprentices out of the room.

'Everyday? Isn't Potential Exhausting Salve bad for the body if it is consumed too often?'

These perplexing thoughts were shared by the three.

Michael stood in thought for a second before he went into the wood box and pulled out a small crystal vial.

Michael walked into the bathroom and uncorked the vial, he stretched his arm over the edge and dropped three millilitres of a reddish almost transparent liquid. The small drops sounded, and like a blank canvas, they tainted the water until it was all the same reddish hue.

Michael undressed and easily pulled his body over the tub wall and into the warm water. He closed his nose with one hand and plugged his ears with the pieces of clay in his left hand. 

The water was decently hot, but Michael had already become used to the discomfort. 

'Five years.'

About ten minutes later Michael began to feel a permeating heat that was different from the one coming from the water. This covered every inch of his body, and it was not just on the surface, he could feel it in his bones and internal organs as well.

'It's time.'

Michael removed himself from the tub and patted himself dry. The lukewarm water in the tub had already regained its clarity as the salve had already been completely absorbed into his body.

He walked out of the bathroom and donned a light, oversized, set of clothes. They were made from a plant similar to cotton and carried most of its characteristics. He grabbed the bottle that held the Golden Elixir and a small wooden spoon from a drawer.

He avoided the rug and sat in a corner of the room. He began by sitting in a lotus position and as he fell into a state of meditation he felt a hazy connection with a surreal energy. This energy coursed through his body as wisps, giving him life and the ability to exist. 

Suddenly a large demon appeared in his mind. The demon appeared extremely detailed. Its back was split with distinct muscular formation while its leather-like skin was a blackish hue with the occasionally red accent. It had one head with three faces, one with kind eyes and an amiable smile, one with manic eyes and a bloodthirsty smile, and finally the one in the centre was void of emotions, its eyes lifeless. It had six arms, with each one seemingly more muscular than the next, and its legs looked like ones belonging to an elephant, an unprecedented might hidden within. 

This was the meditation and imagery related to the technique Fiend's Day. Through it one's body would reach an unnatural state of forced growth. The life energy in the body would go berserk and attack the body in protest, and it would give a unique tempering effect. The energy pathways in the body were extremely diverse and could reach every micrometre of flesh, so it formed a complete, thorough system of training. 

The Potential Exhausting Salve significantly promotes growth in the body, so when it was used as a supplement with Fiend's Day, a synergetic effect was produced and although it had great results, it would also severely destroy the body as its healing factor was insufficient. So before the Golden Elixir had arrived in his hands, Michael would need a week of recovery before he could train with this intensity again, but now…

About an hour had passed as Michael's figure had swelled slightly, sweat dripped out and had already formed a small puddle on the floor. Michael reached to his side and opened the bottle with Golden Elixir. He scooped out a small amount with the fine spoon and allowed it to dissolve on his tongue.

His muscle threads began to reattach in a greater number than before, with greater elasticity and stronger composition. His bones that had incredibly tiny microfractures similarly healed and became slightly denser. This process continued through his entire body. Even then Michael had not stopped tempering his body, he continued cultivating Fiend's Day, his body healed as it broke apart.

Around the three hour mark, he walked towards his desk and drank a Nutrition Pouch as his body needed some material to continue rebuilding. And so the process continued unnaturally, until the six hour mark. 

Michael took a long breath as he felt the Potential Exhausting Salve wear off, his body looked as if it had been steamed and while he felt exhausted, he also felt excited for the future.

With the chaos of his father's death looming over him, he finally felt something good had happened. If it continued as such, Michael felt that in three years he would be able to advance. Becoming a knight didn't seem like such an impossibility then.

Michael reached for some towels from his bed and cleaned up the watery mess. He also tap dried his body as he sat back down into his lotus position.

This time his breathing changed into one of peace and vitality. An image of a lotus appeared in his mind. Unlike the previous, this one allowed him more control over the energy flow, the wisps swam happily through his body, the life energy nurturing his muscles and stimulating them lightly. This free state also brought the body into a harmonious state that began to produce more energy, and although it was a slow process, it formed more energy which would be important for the creation of the life seed.

Different from Fiend's Day, this one was also not harmful to the body, which meant he could meditate repetitively for long periods of time.

Michael continued as so until the soft rays of the morning sun fell upon his face, awakening from his deeply meditative state. Although he hadn't slept he felt unusually invigorated. 

He stood up and welcomed the butler once again, this time for an actual bath. His body felt sticky from the dried sweat and although he encountered it often, it remained an uncomfortable sensation.

"Young master, Sir Brute sent me to ask you if you would like to follow along with him to guard an escort to a neighbouring city."

"No, Ronald. Tell my uncle that I'm not ready yet. I'll go out when I'm a knight, the possibility of dying is too high. Until I can utilise life energy outside of my body I won't be going out."

Michael was direct and didn't hide his fears. It would not be good to leave the vicinity of the city for an immature experience. The more Michael learned of this world, the more his skin would crawl with anxiety. Most of the land here was undeveloped and save for the marked trails between human settlements, dangerous beasts and supernatural entities covered the rest in their nightmarish claws. 

Michael did plan on travelling and experiencing the world, but that was not now, he was far from the level to experience it with a calm heart.

Michael submerged his head into the water as his long dark hair floated on the surface.

'Life energy this, life seed that. Isn't it just qi. Thinking back to the wuxia novels he had read in the past he couldn't help but compare it to his current training system. The life energy pathways were basically meridians, while the life seed was the formation of an energy core. Still, the novels spoke of a dantian, yet he had explored and explored and had yet to find one. It seemed that not everything was the same…'