Layla's Training

Layla woke up early this morning, she stretched a little from all the sleep then smiled.

"I'm going to start training....again"

When she said those words she had recalled those times she trained with her father.

This morning would have been different only if she had not recalled those memories.

She shook her head, trying to remove those thoughts and entered the bathroom to take her bath.

Layla had finished taking her bath and had also dressed up, ready to train until she dropped, she was really excited.

Now downstairs, she saw her food on the dinning table and also the mysterious figure who was already eating.

"Good morning" she said with an excited face.

Hearing what she had said the mysterious figure gave her a nod.

They both ate in silence after that and finished their breakfast some minutes later.

Already done, the figure washed the plates and after that, they left the house heading to the open area in the forest.

The both of them had arrived, the mentor had given her a wooden sword before they left the house.

When they got there, the mentor had signalled her to sit, then brought out a board from a spatial ring.

Layla had seen a lot of people wearing it in the castle, so she knew very well what that was but was a little bit surprised when she saw her mentor wearing it.

Her mentor had started writing, it decided to teach her about qi first and how it works.

It was a very interesting topic for Layla since she had only heard about it, but was never taught.

'Qi is an energy which flows all around us and can be absorbed in our meridian' She read out loud what was on the board then asked a question.

"Master, but if what you say is true, then why isn't it everyone who manipulates qi?".

'Not everyone awakens the power to control qi, because it is a dangerous power and those who try to cultivate it by force die trying'.

Layla had understood what the mentor had written, so she jotted the key points down.

The class continued for some time, her mentor taught her about the cultivation realm, foundations and other things she needed to know.

Since that was done, it was time for her to cultivate.

Her mentor had told her it would be a painful process opening her meridians by force but she wouldn't die.

Obviously, Layla had agreed to it, but she underestimated the pain she would be facing.

Her mentor imbued qi into her opening the first point, but she had not expected such an unbearable pain as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

She would have fainted, but her master didn't let her, she could only endure that unbearable pain while wide awake.

She might have actually died but her master would give her some minutes to rest everytime a point had been opened, that didn't mean the Pain will reduce though.

Two hours passed in the twinkle of an eye, well not for Layla and all the points had been opened.

She was sweating profusely and looked exhausted, but her determination was still firm.

Her mentor had sent her off to take a quick shower and return, hearing that she ran back to the house for the shower and came back after some time.

It was now time, she sat down in a lotus position, closing her eyes, she tried to feel the qi flowing around her.

While this happened her master watched to see if she was doing well but had to leave because there were some guests.

"We've been waiting for you", one of the guests said.

"We have gotten a mission to kill a kid, he bears an alias, shadow, you can't also decline since it is an order, you should also try to come for the meeting happening tomorrow, there we will hear the full information of the mission", the second one said.

The individual nodded telling them the message had been received and they left afterwards.

The individual thought on the way back of what should be done, but kept it aside, seeing Layla was finally absorbing the qi.

The two figures had not noticed any changes in the atmosphere because of the barrier that was cast before her master left.

She never opened her eyes or said a word, even when she sensed the qi being absorbed into her, she stayed in full concentration throughout.

Two days passed, she was still in her state of concentration when the levels of qi in the air reduced because she absorbed it all to form her beginner's foundation.

Layla had finally entered into the mortal realm, she had finally become a cultivator.

Immediately she entered into the mortal realm she collapsed on the ground and her mentor was there to pick her up.

She woke up some hours later, noticing she was back in her room.

Layla didn't know how long she had been cultivating, but she knew it was for a very long time.

Not wasting a second she entered the bathroom.

Soon she was out, This wasn't noticed before since she didn't look into it, but she finally noticed her body felt different.

Layla had decided to go downstairs, looking for her master.

The figure had left a note telling her to wait inside it will be right back, so she waited.

Thirty minutes had passed and the figure had finally come back.

"Where were you master?" she asked

'In the city's market' her master had written on a paper

Her master brought out something from it's back, it was a sword.

"Is this for me? It looks so nice" Layla asked as her eyes sparkled.

The figure nodded

Layla collected the sword from her master and brought it out of it's scabbard, swinging it a few times.

"And it fits me too" she giggled and smiled wholeheartedly.

She told her master about how her body felt due to the qi inside her.

The whole night continued with a lot of chatting and laughing from Layla.

The next day, Layla was sparring with her mentor.

She attacked with the sword it was different from the time with her father, it also felt like she had passed her limit.

After that day, two months had passed in the twinkle of an eye and they had continued with that method of sparring, Layla was finally able to get used to it.

She also learnt how to manipulate her qi and perform a few skills making it easier to spar, but she had not been able to land a single strike on her master.

They also finished today's training like always, Layla always ends up collapsing on the ground for overusing her key but she wasn't unconscious.

During this two months she was also able to reach the intermediate foundation in her realm.

Her master carried her back inside, putting her on the bed to rest, she slept after some few minutes, but the figure wasn't done for the night.

Heading out the two figures from last time were present this time too.

"We attack tomorrow, waste no time" It was only the second figure that spoke this time and Layla's master just nodded has it had always done.

After they left the figure removed the mask and spoke in a male's voice

"I'm sorry Layla"

Then headed back inside to prepare for tomorrow.