Mystic Arts

Nathan woke up with a large pile of fried chicken already on his nightstand. It was heavy for breakfast. But it was the middle of the day, and Nathan was too hungry to care. His arms were still broken, and his body still hurt like someone had driven a steamroller over it. If not even that could stop him from eating, neither would notions about appropriate breakfast meals.

'...Fuck.'

When Nathan had eaten as much as he could, he sat on his bed and looked at his broken arms. Last night was the first time in a while he felt so powerless.

He hadn't even felt like that when he lost against the Shrouded Hero. Nathan realized, a little late perhaps, that he would need more strength than he had now if he wanted to clear out the Vijang Syndicate.

Nathan sighed.

Unfortunately, with the state his body was currently in, there wasn't much he could actually do.

Nathan had always been more a man of action than thought, but he realized that if he wanted to achieve his goals in this life, he would have to be more prudent. He couldn't say 'fuck it' and charge into the enemy base, especially not when he felt the looming danger.

If he wanted to get rid of every last Vijang rat, he would have to develop a plan with more detail than train for a bit and then go on a massacre.

Or, he had to expand his training.

'Maybe I should try my hand at—What did those crazies call it? Mystic Arts?'

Nathan reminisced about one of his many encounters in his first life. It was one of his rivals and their groupies who actually managed to live up to their designation as his rival.

They paled in front of the Shrouded Hero. But the Heavenly Demon had been strong.

'I wonder how they're doing right now. They probably haven't awakened yet, right?'

Nathan tilted his head for a moment.

'Do I need to wait for that, or will their Mystic Arts still work?'

Since it was something that they developed or brought to Earth through their skill, Nathan wasn't sure if training in Mystic Arts would work. He pursed his lips.

Unfortunately, it wasn't something he could confirm immediately. In the first place, he had never shown any interest in it since he was strong enough without it, and Mystic Arts, in general, relied on time and talent to have any effect.

Nathan wasn't interested in it, plain and simple. He didn't need it. And he wasn't going to spend an unspecified amount of time to find out if he could even get any further than the starting line.

But Mystic Arts was Nathan's best bet right now. Most of his other opportunities started cropping up two years from now. All the knowledge he retained from his regression wasn't useful yet.

'Wait a moment…'

Nathan's eyes lit up as he realized something.

He remembered several of the Mystical Arts that the Heavenly Demon created, including one that even the Heavenly Demons struggled with. But the Heavenly Demon gained their following and built up their cult by controlling the truly effective Mystical Arts.

Nathan wasn't sure if the Heavenly Demon actually got stronger through having a cult to support them, but a large part of their influence stemmed from them having people all over the place from all walks of life supporting them.

However, if Nathan copied down and spread the Mystical Arts he knew, wouldn't the Heavenly Demon have nothing to stand on when they started on their journey?

Nathan grinned and giggled just thinking about it. He couldn't think of a better way to fuck over the Heavenly Demon than to yank the rug out from under them before they even had the chance to stand on it.

He started daydreaming about what kind of expression they would have when they realized what had happened. If they ever realized, that is. They might never awaken their skill if Nathan spread the knowledge of Mystical Arts in the world.

'I mean, that would be a shame, but at the same time, pretty fun.'

Nathan tilted his head from side to side as he considered different possibilities. He kind of looked forward to fucking over the Heavenly Demon just for the sake of it. But it wouldn't be as fun if they didn't even know it. Nathan wanted to see them struggle and despair, or at least drown in confusion.

'Ah, whatever.'

Nathan shook his head to clear it of distractions. He needed to remember all the details of training the Mystic Art that the Heavenly Demon had tried to persuade him with.

It was the Mystic Art that even the Heavenly Demon struggled to master. It was the height of mental and physical cultivation.

'Whatever that means.'

The Heavenly Demon had explained it since they wanted Nathan to train in Mystic Arts out of a pure desire to see someone strong grow even stronger. Nathan remembered it since, as reluctant as he was to admit it, interesting. But he hadn't bothered understanding it.

'Sky Piercer Codex, was it?'

A Mystic Art named after the Heavenly Demon, who was sometimes referred to as the sky.

If it did what it claimed to do, it was an impressive Mystic Art.

Nathan ran through his memories of the Mystic Art. In those memories, he saw the masked Heavenly Demon in their robes sitting cross-legged in front of him in the middle of a vast wasteland, filled with the destructive signs of their battle. Their robes were somewhat intact. The Heavenly Demon wasn't.

Nathan was also at the end of his rope. Since neither could fight anymore, they simply didn't.

There was no one around to interrupt their rest, and they respected each other's strength. They took a break until they were good to go again. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last, either.

After all, they weren't out for each other's throats. The Heavenly Demon fought Nathan as a way to improve, and Nathan fought the Heavenly Demon to prove to them that he didn't need Mystic Arts to become the strongest.

'I'm sure they'd be pissing themselves laughing if they saw me now.'