Freedom

After the incident at the first mansion transpired, Lucas quickly made his way to the sect's outdoor gymnasium. This area of the sect had the highest spiritual activity for people to train in. He was never allowed to enter due to Morgan's oppression. Now that he had undergone his ceremony, he was free to traverse the sect as he pleased.

For years, Lucas had been learning what one's spirit entailed and how to harness it to the fullest. To grow one's spirit powers, one had to grow their spirits. And to grow one's spirit, one had to practice. The places to practice were areas in the world with high spiritual activities.

During the time that mysterious comet passed by the earth, many places like Rila, Machu Picchu, and the Grand Canyon received a high concentration of energy. When people with high levels of spirit approached such places, they found their abilities increased abundantly. Each sect, therefore, built their infrastructure around where they felt the highest levels of spiritual activity. As long as Lucas trained here, he'd have an advantage compared to those who weren't in sects.

There were many sect members already training at the gymnasium. Three full-sized tennis courts, two basketball courtyards, an exhibition pool with six fifty-yard lanes, a four hundred-meter running track, a one hundred twenty-yard football field, a one hundred thirty-yard soccer field, and an indoor fitness center with the latest equipment for strength training. What was surprising about this area was that it wasn't even the world's largest outdoor gym! That record was held by the Uluru Sect in Australia.

The day was bright, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Spotting a tree near the edge of the field, Lucas stood right underneath it to meditate. He got into position, closed his eyes, and concentrated on his spirit. What felt like a cool breeze quickly turned into a burning sensation as he tried to expand his spirit energy.

To train one's spirit requires a lot of focus. Just the slightest disturbance could affect things.

Meditating became second nature to Lucas due to having spent most of his youth inside. Though there were people running, swimming, and sparring, he was able to clear all his senses. After just a few seconds, his entire world became dark. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a completely different landscape.

When mediating to train, a person's territory would physically change to what they saw as tranquil. Everyone's was usually common, like sitting on a cliffside with waves rushing beneath or even resting on a cloud high above the sky. Lucas's was neither of the two. What he saw was outer space with galaxies.

Someone with a high enough spirit would usually fight with a weapon. The stronger the spirit, the stronger the weapon. Some could amplify various parts of their bodies, while others could imbue their spirit into objects. But the strongest weapon people normally fought with was a sword made from their spirits. To manifest this sword, one had to be at least a grade three Primate.

Lucas, however, was going to attempt to do it with his grade two spirit. What many people failed to comprehend about their spirit was that it was theirs. If a grade one could run faster than an Olympic athlete, but the athlete trained hard enough to beat the grade one, how could the grade one now surpass the athlete? Simple: They would have to train like athletes.

For Lucas to access his weapon, he would need to train like a Primate.

Ever since he had that dream, his understanding of his own spirit has been far greater than that of the average man. With wisdom came understanding, and with understanding came knowledge. How grade threes were able to form a sword easily was because they had a lot of their spirit to work with. The more abundant someone's spirit was, the more feats and skills they could perform.

What Lucas had been doing these last five years since he discovered this was building his spirit. A handful of people might have already figured this method out, but many of them would have already been adults by then, thus preventing them from having the time to spend months practicing. And that's just what Lucas had. Not months but years to build his foundation.

Inside Jonathan's core, he saw a light. It was average, and it was glimmering quite brightly. This was where he could access his spirit. Placing his hand forward, he tried to concentrate all that spirit energy he'd been building up over the years.

The hilt of a katana slowly began taking shape. When he found it difficult to maintain the form, it shattered like glass. Lucas began panting. It was his first time trying to produce a weapon.

After several more tries, he eventually stopped his training for the day. He would have gladly continued to push himself more, but forming a sword as a grade two was not a simple task. It required so much of his spirit that it left him drained. To help replenish one's spirit, one is required to either rest awhile or use unique artifacts.

And if someone exerted too much of their spirit, they wouldn't go through some cliché act like dying. They would simply return to the status of an average man. That meant no special powers, no insane physical attributes, and no weapon. This was just one of the many things that separated the grade levels.

By the time Lucas opened his eyes, he noticed it was nightfall. The moment Lucas finished his ceremony, Morgan was relieved of her duties. He was free to stay out as late as he pleased. As such, he found a bench by the training grounds to stargaze.

Being held inside a room for most of his youth deprived Lucas of doing common things like this. The sense of freedom he felt was alleviating. Despite the bench's wooden surface, Lucas hardly felt it. He had received beatings with a metal crowbar, so this was nothing.

With an empty outdoor gymnasium all to himself for the night, he decided to get up and test the fighting skills he had visually learned over the years.

Visual learning was one of the many different learning styles, most popularized by Neil D. Fleming in his VAK model of learning. Those who were in sync with their spiritual selves could learn at an even faster and more efficient rate than the average man. Being a grade two, Lucas's learning ability was nearly double that of normal children his age. Perhaps even triple after the epiphany he had five years ago.

Taking that into account, he performed the necessary stretches to warm up his body. He then visualized an opponent in front of him and began instinctively throwing his hands and kicking his feet at precise locations. With each move he remembered the trainees doing, he performed them without flaw, adapting to the strengths of what he thought his opponents would do. Even his fighting stance was parallel to his offensive skills.

Tiring himself out after several hours, he eventually returned to the bench to rest. The moment his eyes closed, Lucas fell sound asleep.

The next morning, he awoke to a banging sound. When he looked to see who had the tenacity to come to the facility before the sun could rise, he wasn't surprised to see it was one of the descendants. Alejandro Chang was punching a steel wall that was more than five yards thick with his bare hands. He was so busy with his exercise that he wasn't paying attention to see if anyone was nearby or not.

Lucas calmly got up to approach the tree he had meditated on. With one leap off vert, he managed to land close to the highest branch. Hiding amidst the leaves, he watched his cousin kick and punch the steel wall. Seeing children like him leave behind dents on something as thick as this was not at all impressive.

What Lucas found interesting was his technique. By focusing on Alejandro's spirit, he could tell that he was expelling minute parts of his energy with every blow. To control his power without breaking the wall, that was what was truly impressive. Yet Lucas found his artistry lacking.

In the many books he had read, martial arts manuals weren't left out. On top of all this, Lucas had spent the majority of his youth watching skilled tacticians fight amongst one another daily. Almost half an hour passed as Lucas carefully observed how he fought. Once he finished, he departed for the indoor facility.

If Lucas was going to overthrow the Barcelona sect one day, he had a lot of training to do. And after what he had just witnessed from one of the descendants, his confidence grew. Muay Thai, Chinese Kenpo, Ju-Jitsu—all of these were visually memorized by him. All he had to do was apply what he remembered from a training session.

Even if someone was a grade four didn't mean they were strong. Alejandro Chang was basically given a free black belt in karate despite not having had any prior training. This was all because he looked the part. Once Lucas honed his own skills, he was sure he could one day surpass all the descendants.