14 14. Lie

When he went back to his room, Noah felt tired.

Even if the meeting was short and only half of the morning had passed, the depletion of "Breath" in his body caused tiredness to envelop him.

'To think that with just that little "Breath" I have I can make a blunt weapon cut, I wonder how much a dantian would further enhance the twin saber style. It's understandable why cultivators give so much importance to the dantian; the difference in result is substantial, if it can accumulate a higher quantity and quality of "Breath", every technique will be exponentially more powerful.'

While sitting on his bed, he engraved on his mind the sensation of the execution of his last attack.

'That sharpness of mind must be a standard from now on… No, it must be my starting point! I can't only rely on the sheer quantity of my mental energy, I must also refine it to speed up my reasoning and my learning process.'

One of his biggest secrets was that his mental energy was progressing at an astonishing rate. In those six months since he had started training it, he had raised the time he could last during a session by half an hour. The effects of that increase were evident as he would learn faster every lesson his Master imparted to him, and his ability to manipulate the "Breath" became more precise and smoother.

Inside his sea of consciousness at the center of the sphere, there was a slight disturbance in the space above the tide.

It seemed that something was about to appear but could still not consolidate.

'During this week, I must completely focus on the Forging of Seven Hells and on increasing my mental energy. I will train the twin saber style when resting or during a break. I can't lose any more time.'

Deciding his new schedule for the incoming week, he immediately got to work and used all his attention to read and memorize the body-nourishing method.

At night he practiced hard on the Kesier rune.

In the morning, he spent some time in meditation, trying to maintain the sharpened state his mind had experienced against his Master, then he would practice the forms of the twin saber style for about two hours. The rest of the day was dedicated to the memorization of the nourishing method, and the night was used to increase his mental energy.

Like this, time went by till the day before the appointment with William.

As per instructions, Noah didn't practice the martial art nor trained with the Kesier rune but spent the day reading the Seven Hells tome and focusing his mind on sharpening it.

During lunchtime, he went to see his mother.

Noah lightly knocked at his mother's door saying with a firm voice:

"Mum, it's me, I have something to talk to you about."

After some moments, the door opened, and Lily's radiant figure appeared as she said:

"It's so rare of you to look for me, I believe that if it weren't for your need to eat, you would spend all your time training."

Noah instinctively looked at her body before focusing his eyes again on her face.

'Four more since the last time I saw her.'

His father was growing more violent each day, and Noah had the sensation that it was linked with his success in entering the guards.

"It is actually about training. I will go on a special training with my Master tomorrow, and he said that it will take a week or so for it to be completed. So I'm not coming back here starting tomorrow."

Lily instantly got worried and wanted to ask more about this training but then realized that her son had somewhat changed.

His eyes were more focused, his presence was more imposing, he seemed like a rock standing in a river, constantly resisting the flow of water.

She knew her son.

She knew that he had decided to take part in that training and that nothing would make him change his mind, so she limited herself to touching his cheek and ruffling his hair a bit.

"Promise me that you won't do anything reckless or dangerous."

"Don't worry, mum, my Master will be with me all the time, and he is really strong, so there is no real danger that can affect me."

"I don't care, promise it to me anyway."

His mother's plea was resolute and immovable.

"Ok mum, I promise, I'll be careful."

He lied as his mother kept staring at him.

Then she hugged him and adjusted his clothes a bit.

"Then you are free to go, but remember not to force yourself too hard, the job of a mother is to take care of her children while they are still young after all."

.

.

.

Back in his room, Noah was inside his sea of consciousness.

He was not training, he was simply focusing all of his mental energy on the treatment of the following day, reviewing the various steps, and setting his mind for the task.

When he thought that it was enough, he left his mental sphere and lay on his bed.

'Now that I lied to her, I really can't allow myself to die.'

And then he went to sleep.

The following day he went to the appointed place where his Master was already waiting for him with a stern face.

He lightly nodded, seeing the focus and determination in Noah's eyes.

"Do you have some questions before we move?"

Noah thought a little and then asked softly:

"Is the place where we are going really soundproof? No one will hear me, right?"

'Shouldn't he worry about his life? Is he worried that his mother might hear him?'

"Yes, the place we are going to is the underground prison of the outer ring. We are used to keeping and torturing prisoners there, and no one has ever noticed. Even some of our men don't know where the place is so you can rest assured."

Noah nodded, erasing the last doubt from his mind.

"Then, I'm ready."

William nodded and then started moving toward the bottom of the corridor.

"While we go there, I want you to repeat the procedure aloud for me to be sure that you won't make mistakes."

Noah started explaining:

"The Forging of Seven Hells is a treatment consisting of destroying seven acupoints on the back of the specimen for the body to naturally create an absorption whirl that will accumulate the Breath of Heaven and Earth on his back. Since the absorption process is chaotic, the specimen must be conscious during this process to direct the "Breath" to the place where the seven acupoints were destroyed and reconstruct them with a mixture of their leftovers and "Breath". The specimen must also use his mental energy to hold together the newly created acupoints until they solidify and connect completely to his body. The last step is to endure through the transformation the new acupoints will cause to the body of the specimen and then wait for his new body to be entirely filled with "Breath". The process must be then repeated six more times."

William stopped at the end of the corridor and tapped on the wall in front of him in seemingly random points.

The wall then went back on itself and slid to the right showing a dark and rocky passage that led downward.

"We are almost there, now explain to me the dangers and advantages of this method."

Saying so, he started walking through the passage, and Noah followed.

****

Edited by: Alessandro Sica