7 Chapter 7: Training in Martial Skills

The four scrolls contained four different martial skills. The first scroll contained the Roaring Tiger Fist which the old man just showed. In the scroll was a moving picture of a man repeatedly showing the technique. The second scroll contained the Stampeding Horses. The picture showed a man holding the horse stance as he constantly leapt. The only problem was that the man couldn't be seen moving at all. The only clue for him moving was the dust that he disturbed as he moved. The third scroll contained a move called Chained Iron Fists. If the Roaring Tiger Fist was a powerful single hit move then the Chained Iron Fists were consecutive hits that doubled in strength every hit. The last scroll was called Single Step, Hundred Men. It was a footwork technique that created a hundred afterimages. According to the scroll, if mastered, it was possible to create physical images that could also attack the enemy. However, no one has been able to achieve such a feat, not even the creator of the move himself.

"Useless. Very flamboyant but useless." This was Aviana's evaluation of the skills. Hearing her Darien nodded in agreement, "Even the basic skills that aunt let us practice was better than this. Still, we need to practice this so that the old man doesn't get suspicious. We just need to put in more effort so that we can still advance our proficiency in other skills as well." Aviana just pouted but she still started diligently practising the skills. Both of them quickly sat down cross-legged as they tried to understand the true meaning of the martial skills.

Silence pervaded into the atmosphere as the two six-year-olds sat down. Only the whispers of the wind could be heard and occasional roars of Wild Beasts could be heard. This continued on for about an hour until Aviana suddenly opened her eyes. Her figure vanished and appeared one metre away in a horse stance. Then she suddenly split up into multiple figures as she rushed towards the nearest tree. This was none other than Single Step, Hundred Men. As she approached the tree she pounced at it with lightning speed ripping it apart. While the tree was falling down she let loose hundreds of punches towards the tree trunk. Her hands were so fast that only their shadows could be seen. Every single one of punches would be twice as strong as the last. Using the Chained Iron Fists she quickly ripped apart the tree, disintegrating it. The only remnants of the tree were the centimetre tall stump and its roots.

Clap! Clap! Darien quickly applauded his sister as he gave her a towel, "Your comprehension is still a notch better than mine sister." Aviana smiled as she wiped herself off. Truthfully she was indeed better at comprehending things than Darien but Darien was undoubtedly better at maximising the use of martial skills. They had practised martial skills with Elaine since they were young and they had long known of the gradings of martial skills. However, the gradings that Elaine had told them were completely different from the gradings that Dean Aisuru had told them. While the names were the same, the strength of a Mortal Grade martial skill, according to Elaine's ranking, would be able to rip a mountain in half and therefore can only be used by Mortal Core Realm warriors.

"Do you think it's a good idea to show the old fox quick progress or slow progress?" Darien asked.

"Slow of course," Aviana replied.

"Why?"

"Well, unless you want to become his subordinate there's no need to show him too much talent. Just some would do. After all, he probably only wants to use us for the three-year agreement between the school and the Trairu Clan. So we should just show him that we have reached Initial Mastery. This way we will still have some use to him."

"Once he returns, let us try to find a way to stay in this forest so that we can train in actual skills. Otherwise, we would stagnate and make auntie angry."

Aviana nodded in agreement, "Oh, by the way, has your Chart's Soul awoken yet?"

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get rid of the nasty poison."

On the mention of the poison, Darien and Aviana's faces grew pale. The had almost truly killed them. If it weren't for the secrets in their bodies they would have definitely died. Not even the Heart Calming Pill that the old man used could have saved them.

"Tch, that old man mistook the Potential Destroying Poison with the Yin Terminating-Yang Exterminating Pill that only old useless men take to temporarily raise their combat prowess to save their family or things of the like. And he still dared to complain!" Darien couldn't help but hold a grudge against the old man. Although Elaine had told him to be kind to others, there was feeling deep within him that told him not to be friendly with the old man.

"Let's wait for the old man to return. Then we can finally sleep. I hope that he prepares comfortable beds for us at least," Aviana mumbled.

"He better! Ultimately we are the ones who will save their school so they should at least do this much for us." Darien replied.

As the two waited they practised the Overlord Chart and the Polar Balance Chart respectively.

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Back in Mark and Elaine's house, the two could be seen fervently discussing something.

"This is completely unexpected Mark! How did those people find out?"

"I don't know Elaine but we must take action immediately. The Young Master and the Young Lady are no longer safe. Haah, it seems that they will have to grow under constant pressure and danger from now on."

"That's fine, I'm sure that the Young Master and the Young Lady are able to survive in this cruel world all by themselves. The pressure would also help stimulate their potential which would give them better foundations in the future. What I'm worried about though is their lack of manpower."

"What do you mean? It doesn't matter, as long as the two of them are strong enough numbers no longer matter."

"In the past, you would be right Mark, unfortunately, times have already changed. You should have felt it, the World Energy had an upheaval and all the practitioners who had their Spirit Realms formed had gained or lost some power. The next Upturning will come in three years. You remember what happened in the last Upturning right?"

"Of course! How could I forget? It was when master fell."

"Right, and master only fell because the Upturning made it so that the practitioners were more balanced. In the case of our master, the heavens made it so that He could still be unrivalled but he could no longer fight the world on his own. This was his downfall. This was why when he had prepared his successors he made two and not one. In the next age, the will no longer be a single Overlord. From then forth the title Overlord will most like belong to a power."

"So you're saying that we should prepare to create a kingdom for the Young Lady and the Young Master?"

"No, they should do that on their own. What I'm saying is that we should provide them with enough time to do so. After all, collecting resources and gathering followers is a laborious task. Once three years pass let's use all pour powers to delay the Upturning. During that time whether or not the Young Master and Young Lady can properly build solid foundations will be up to fate."