Training (part II)

After having been training his body every day for a month, Longwei's body has become much stronger not to mention his appetite which has doubled from the past weeks. His muscles, his legs, and his arms have all become much stronger as well. Sometime commander Tian made him stand on top of a tree branch or at the edge of a big rock on one foot for hours to have a good balance.

.........…

Early in the morning, the yellow shining sun started rising from the ground. Its golden light dribbled the city with pure scattering light as the sunlight pierced through the Cloud. Although, Longwei had been training his body every day for the past month To the point where he can't even stand, he woke happy this morning as if the light of the day had risen his heart.

As usual, commander Tian was waiting inside the training ground for him while he walked in.

"Good morning commander Tian," I said with a big smile on my face.

" You surely look in a good mood this morning." Said commander Tian

" Today we gonna train your footwork, sensibility, or reflex. As you may know, footwork and sensibility are two of the most important factors into becoming a good swordsman. As matter of fact, it is as important as the sword technique itself." Said commander Tian with a serious and solemn tone.

" In a real battle, the one that has the most powerful physical strength or powerful sword technique doesn't always win. What's the use of having overwhelming strength if you can't even hit your opponent? So having a good footwork will allow you to easily dodge and injured or even deal a fatal blow to your opponent while he isn't able to even touch a hair on your head because of your agility and footwork."

" Being a swordsman doesn't mean that you have to stand there like a retarded, waving swords at each other. It is about constantly changing positions, being fast as the wind and unpredictable like a shadow. A true swordsman valued footwork. Also, they have excellent footwork capable of making their opponent look like an idiot." Said Commander Tian while looking me in the eyes to make sure I understand the importance of footwork.

While commander Tian was explaining the reason why I have to train my footwork, I just stood there and listening attentively while nodding my head.

From what understand, it seems like the importance of footwork is even higher than the sword technique itself. Even if his claim about the importance of footwork might be a little exaggerated, but he does make a valid point. Footwork is really important in the making of a great swordsman.

" I will teach you a footwork technique known as Shadow wind steps. It is a technique I stumbled upon on the magical beast forest while I was on a beast hunt with your father. It is an incomplete technique as part of the book containing the technique was torn off. Even though is incomplete, it is still a high level and an exquisite footwork technique." said commander Tian while giving an old tattered book.

I took the book from him and start reading it. The book didn't contain any explaining but a picture of an old man moving his body in an odd way. It took me a minute before I flipped through the whole book and give it back to commander Tian.

" Host has acquired A footwork technique."

[ Shadow wind steps Level 0 ]

After I'm done reading the book, the voice of the woman rang out within my mind like a computer program. Suddenly, I can see the old man picture moving within my brain or my sea of consciousness like a motion picture. His picture was moving forward, the side, backward, turned in circles and leaping. The movement was so graceful and deep. He did all those things in a breath time while leaving nothing but his after image. As I watched, I discovered that the old man in the picture turned somewhat illusionary, like there were more of him. After the old man completed the sets of footwork, the motion picture disappeared within my mind. This footwork technique was truly exquisite.

While I was immersed into the old man footwork and the mysteries behind each step, suddenly, commander Tian voice's rang out behind me as he was leaving the training ground.

" Follow me, I know a perfect place where you can learn this technique. It might take some time but once you do learn this footwork technique, you will understand how to dodge and move about in close or tight areas. If you are able to comprehend the deep meaning behind this set of footwork, you will able to become one with the wind and produce after images of yourself while moving.

As I was walking with commander Tian, I discovered that there was actually a small bamboo forest into East side of Red Cloud city. The bamboo trees were very tall and very close to one another. Commander Tian walked into the deepest part of the small bamboo forest. His movements seem slow, however, he arrived in the deepest part of the forest in a span of a minutes leaving me behind. I was surprised by his movement, he was right there in front me, in the next moment he just disappeared like he was never In front of me.

"Ok, this used to my training spot and now it's yours. All you have to do is move through this bamboos while I throw rocks at you. Remember, you must never let your body touch the bamboo while moving. Also, if you get hit by a rock, it will hurt a lot cause I won't go easy on you just because you are a kid or the city lord's son."

" Now go." Said commander Tian while picking up a big bags of rock from the ground. It seems like this bastard prepared everything before we even came to this small Bamboo forest.

Without wasting any time, I immediately charge forward into the small bamboo forest.

"Swish, swish, Swish, Swish."

While I was running through the small bamboo forest, I can hear the swish sound of the rocks coming at me from every direction. I fell down on the ground as my foot hit a bamboo tree.

I ground my teeth and get up. However, as soon I got up, I got hit by two rocks. It really hurts, but I kept on moving through the Bamboos. I refused to believe it would happen again. I keep on losing my balance as I dodge the rocks and the bamboos, and my body swayed which took me a while before I was able to steady myself on my feet again.

" Keep on moving, you must feel the wind and your surroundings. Your steps shouldn't be too small or too large. It shouldn't be too light or too heavy. Your body has to stay balanced at all time." Said commander Tian while throwing rocks at me. The worst thing is, sometimes when I dodged the rocks, they hit the bamboos which make them shake wildly and hit me in return.

" If you wish to truly become a swordsman, you must control your body perfectly. Your body must be extremely agile, also you must be able to fully control your strength. If you can not do that, then forget about being a swordsman." Said commander Tian with a cold and serious tone.

It took me weeks before I can finally dodge every rock that commander Tian threw at me without my body touching the bamboo trees.

Within the small bamboo forest, I was moving like a flash by replicating the footwork of the old man I saw in the motion picture within my brain. Because the bamboo trees were so close to each other, my body had also undergone various contortions to dodge them as well the rocks.

[ Shadow wind steps has risen to level 1]

[ Shadow wind steps has risen to level 2 ]

[ Shadow wind steps has risen to level 3]

[ Shadow wind steps has risen to level 4]

As I was moving, my feet had become much stable on the ground. I can feel the movement of the wind and any disturbance in the wind which is why I was able to dodge every single rocks commander Tian threw at me. My movement was getting so fast that it looked like my body outline started to turn blurry. My location changed with every step I took. Every step had a mystical feeling to it, and each of them were different. Each step I took was accompanied by a surge of wind.

[ Shadow wind steps has risen to level 5]

I found myself into a semi-consciousness state where I forgot about everything, it was just me in the wind. My body continues to flash into different spots from the bamboo forest until it merged and become one with the wind in the forest. It's like my body turned into a gust of wind which swept to the surrounding bamboos undetectable as my position kept on changing.

[Shadow wind steps has risen to level 6]

[Shadow wind steps has risen to level 7]

The outline of my body becomes blurry like an after image.

"What." Commander Tian who was observing everything become speechless as he witnessed this incredible speed. His mind went blank because not even himself has gotten to that point yet.

After being in that semi-consciousness state for two hours, I finally woke up and see the surprised commander Tian looking at me as if I was a freak.

" Commander Tian are you ok," I said with a cunning smile on my face.

" Ohh, me, yeah I'm ok. I think it's time to go back." It took him a while to get back his composure and returned to his usual self. After that, I followed the commander as we went home. He was in dazed while we were walking back as if he just witnessed something unbelievable. I didn't say a word as I followed him closely untill we get to the mansion.