Mock Battles

It was 8PM and David was in the dojo. Elder Barvatsav stood in the center of the dojo in front of all ten of the inner disciples. David stood to the side of the inner disciples. After the inner disciples bowed in front of the elder, they then began doing exercise. They did many ups and also ran in circles around the dojo. David's improved stamina allowed him to keep up, but he had to constantly avoid hitting the incredibly low roof with his head. After the exercise, the inner disciples grouped up into groups of two, as Elder Barvatsav said, "Remember, before you can handle true power, you must know restraint." The elder did not hide the fact that this statement was directed at the new guy. However, all the inner disciples nodded in agreement. "Now do restraint exercise 3." Each of the couples, consisting of two internal disciples, sent a punch at their partner, who also punched at them. Their fists would hit their partner's face at the exact same time, yet despite the momentum of the punches, they would slow down right before actually hitting the opponent. Barvatsav walked up to David next. "Since you have no partner, I will be your partner for this exercise." "So, what are we doing?" "We must improve both our control of our fists as well as our control of our fear. When my fist comes towards your face, I must perfectly control it so that it moves towards you as fast as I can while stopping in time to not land a hit meanwhile you do the same." "So the goal is not to hit you?" "Yes, but you need to barely not hit me while punching me with all you've got, and it can't be because you missed but because you controlled your force." "Alright, I think I get it."

Ends Up that if there was something David lacked, it was control. After hitting Barvatsav's face five times with quite some force, the Elder did not seem as patient as he was before. David's lack of control surprised him too, as he used to have great control over his movements. The system helpfully chimed in as she reminded David: "Did you forget that you're already physically 5.1 times as strong as you originally were? So no wonder that your control over your body has declined." 

After that, it was time for the inner disciplines to spar. Each time two different disciples would fight one another, the martial arts that the sect taught the inner disciples were better than nothing; they weren't better than most real martial arts. David thought they used far too many unnecessary movements, and their arts caused them to expose countless openings. Since he wouldn't be participating in this part, he whispered to the system. "What are they doing?" "Can't you use your own eyes? their training. "Then why do they suck so bad?" "Only weak sects would publish their existence online." "So how did you expect me to find a strong one?" "I didn't, I never said you needed a strong sect in fact, I never told you to join one either." "You told me to make an imaginary Qi engine." "I said reach the Qi refinement realm, but yes." "So what does this crappy martial arts sect have anything to do with that?" "That's up to you to find out. such help. Hmph. Fine, can you at least tell me if I'm in the right place." "That depends on how you see it, but you are closer to what you need than you think." "By the way, is the reason that Midget is so energetic really because of the sect's teachings?" "Yes. So than its a sect that lets people be more energetic when they age and look a decade or two younger, only the older members get something from being in this sect, while the younger members look completely normal." "That's up for you to discover. great. I will tell you that picking such a weak sect is both really good and really bad for you. how so?" "Hmph." "Right, no help."

Finally, the last couple of inner disciples finished their spar. The two inner disciples shook hands and then left. All the inner disciples left right after them, leaving just the Elder and David. "Follow me ill show you to your quatres." David originally planned to make this a one-day mission, but after he joined, he already discovered he would be staying here for a while. Good thing he already told Emily he was going for a while, or she would be extremely worried. Before Barvatsav left, David asked him. "What do you recommend I do?" "When you can go to the library and learn the sect's teachings and try to comprehend them all, in the evenings, train with everyone else like we did today."