Martial Mantra

Daniel went ahead and opened the door.

Bell excitedly rushed in, "Brother Daniel! Let's hurry up! All juniors are asked to gather at the main assembly ground in the afternoon. We better leave early otherwise we will be standing at the back"

"Calm down! There is no need to rush for the front seat. I haven't had breakfast yet. Since there is still some time before assembly, it's better to eat something first" Daniel rejected Bell's suggestion and pushed for last place.

Since Bell had decided to stick with Daniel he had to follow him for lunch silently.

With the announcement, everyone seemed in a rush, so the queue is small and the lunch got done very quickly.

When they leisurely came to the assembly grounds it was already filled to brim with people wearing Green robes.

Everyone is discussing something and waiting for the big announcement.

Girls and Boys are mixed in to form many groups at this time.

Daniel is not interested in these groups because their bonds are not stronger than sandcastles at the beach. Unless there is a strong backing behind the group they will scatter like dandelion seeds in front of danger.

Shaking his head, he looked for any familiar figures but there are too many people for a casual visual inspection.

After an hour an old guy and a young man came to the stage followed by a few other people.

The striking thing is, the old man is wearing Red color robes while the young man is wearing Orange color robes like the girl Rosina.

'So Green is for Outer disciples, Orange is for Inner disciples and Red is for Elders I guess! That's a good idea! Red means danger and you should be careful around them!' Daniel is observing every moment of the people on the stage.

old guy with the black beard scanned everyone in the open yard and this put heavy pressure on the kids forcing them to stabilize themselves. The people at the front were the worst affected by this.

When the yard became completely silent the guy started speaking, "My name is Fitch, I am one the elders of the outer sect. The disciplinary section will be looked after by me. So if any one of you breaks the rules mentioned in the rule book given to you then you will be seeing me"

The cold words brought seriousness to the atmosphere, so he continued, "Any qualified person who wants to cultivate need something called 'Mantra'. For this once 'Mantra of Refining Realm' will be given to for free but after that, you will not be getting ant freebies from the sect."

"Remember you are only allowed to keep the book for three months. In this time you better completely remember what's in the book and start cultivating based on it. And most importantly don't ever disclose the contents of the book to people other than this sect" Old guy ended the conversation with a warning and left the stage.

From the beginning to end he did not stay on the stage for more than a few minutes.

After he left, the pressure brought by him also lifted off everyone's shoulder.

Now everyone became enthusiastic because they can finally start cultivating.

The young guy took over the main stage and picked up the announcement where the old guy left.

Looking at excited kids below the stage, the young guy said with a snickering smile, "Do you guys really think you can go fighting after you start cultivation!? Stop daydreaming! Even if you become a true cultivator you will only be stronger than normal human at the beginning"

This brought a shock wave to all the people in the square. One girl picked up the courage and asked, "Why is that senior? Aren't cultivators super strong?"

The guy looked at the courageous girl and explained the crux of the problem, "There are two types of mantra in this world namely 'Ascension Mantra' and the other is 'Martial Mantra'. The one which will be distributed to you is 'Ascension Mantra' which will help you to ascend to a higher realm. The mantra needed for fighting is the 'Martial Mantra' which you guys need to secure for yourself."

Another person in the crowd asked, "But senior how we can get marital mantra?"

The guy continued his explanation, "There are many ways to get the Martial Mantras. You can buy them at sect, you can borrow them from families, you can look for black markets or you can look for adventures. Of course, every option has its pros and cons. It depends on your willingness"

"So without Martial Arts, cultivators are weak then?" The courageous girl asked with a little disappointment.

Senior shook his head, "No! The cultivators are really powerful! Even if a cultivator from a higher realm is thrown into Lava River he will return unscathed. The cultivator has terrifying power but to apply that power effectively they need Martial Mantras. Body Martial Mantra will increase the Physical Strength; Leg Marital Mantra will increase his Speed and so on. Anyway for now you don't need to worry about that. Just concentrate on getting started."

Then he went on to say, "There will be some free lectures by seniors in the next couple of months but don't expect too much. You have to work hard and smart to understand everything in the 'Ascension Mantra'. Nobody will help you unless you can provide them with equivalent exchange"

This shocked many people and shattered their dreams of a happy home.

'It seems every bit of information and knowledge is to be mined by individual strength. This will leave normal people hopeless. They either have to join a family or work for years to gain resources and techniques. I better inquire about Rosina! If I fail to make progress then I will have to take help from her.' Daniel decided to push Bell and Lloyd for this job.

"Senior! Can we copy the content in the book?" Another guy raised his voice.

Senior answered in a serious voice, "You can't! If you are caught with a copy then you will be crippled for life. So better play by rules until you have enough strength to hide"

While juniors are confused and are trying to get some more information. The guy simply got off the stage and signaled the others to distribute the cultivation books.

Although all of them are confused they still lined up to get the golden book.

After an hour Daniel finally got his hands on the 'Ascension Mantra of Refining Realm'.

The fellows from martial families have a general idea of what's going on. So without speaking much, they simply took their followers and left the arena.

"What do we do?" Bell who came beside him asked in confusion when everyone is choosing their own paths.

Daniel thought for a second and said, "First, let's look into the book and see why it is said to be difficult. If we fail to understand it even after pooling all the knowledge then we might have to look in other options."

Bell agreed with Daniel and left the arena with him.

After returning, Daniel first took a bath to refresh his mind and then wore loose robes for comfort.

Sitting in the meditation room Daniel took the Mantra book given to him and looked at it closely.

'Lets see what this is all about', Daniel stroked the book for a few moments before slowly unlocking the chains and started browsing through the characters etched onto the golden paper.

Although Daniel got the general language skills, he failed to understand many characters written in the book.

'It might take a while to understand and memorize the characters in these pages', He understood why everyone is allowed to keep the book for three months.

After a few hours, metal exhaustion peaked so he put away the book carefully and went to dinner

'No wonder people in the sect are in rush all the time! Merely getting started is so difficult! I better inquire how others are dealing with this!' Daniel is thinking through his plans while on his way to the dining hall.

In the next few days, he visited the free section of the library and listened to free lectures provided by the sect.

Finally failing to achieve fast results Daniel decided to join hands with Lloyd and Bell.

This issue seems to cut through all spectrums, for he saw many juniors like them skimming through the books in the library.

The guards, staff, and seniors did not show any expression to this scenario as if they long since expected it.

...

Time passed like water and more than two months have passed like this.

Initially, they were able to decode a few characters every single day but as time passed, the progress got degraded. Now three days have passed and not a single character got decoded.

Although, the work is not going well. The three of them really became good friends in this period of time. Or at least Lloyd and Bell think Daniel is their very good and trustable friend.

'Although, I have a general idea of all characters in the book. Is it worth the risk?' Daniel did not forget the reminder Rosina gave him at the first meeting. He is also disinclined to owe a favor to others unless it is necessary.

While Daniel and Bell are brainstorming for ideas, Lloyd came to join them. After joining a new group Lloyd's fear towards Luther seems to have evaporated so he came to visit often.

"Daniel, have you got the remaining characters?" Lloyd asked straight away after taking a seat.

"No! the remaining thirty characters are too complex and the free section of the library does not have many references', Daniel is not the kind who likes to share important information but he had to compromise and work with them to meet the deadline.

"We only have one month left! Forget about memorizing it! We failed to even spell the characters completely! No wonder everyone is joining the families! If we waste any more time then we will definitely fail!" Bell knows joining a family basically means selling a part of your freedom. And he is unwilling to do that.

While Bell is at the end of his wits, Daniel turned to his friend and said something.

"Lloyd! Do you have something to share?" Daniel looked at his friend with an 'I know your secrets' kind of smile.

Lloyd jumped out seat like a rabbit, "What are you talking about!? When did I say I have a solution?"

"Really! Then why are you carrying so much money? And why are you sweating like bullets?" Daniel pointed to his slightly bulged pockets and asked in a penetrating voice.

Knowing that he got caught in a wordplay Lloyd raised his hands in surrender, "Fine! Fine! I got the lead from the leader of the group I joined."

"What is the lead?" Bell asked eagerly

"He said, if we pay enough money to the librarian then she will allow anyone to enter the restricted area of the library, where many notes written by seniors are kept. So I took all the money to pay off the favor to the senior and buy myself in", Lloyd leaked the information which he promised to keep a secret under the pressure.

Bell put up an angry face and questioned, "So you are going behind our backs this time?"

"No! You have to trust me on this! I wouldn't be here if I were planning to keep you in the dark. I am just planning to give both of you a surprise by presenting you with completing decoded copy" Lloyd is looking at Daniel for help. He knows he did a mistake by visiting here with all the money.

The new Daniel will not trust the guy's words in a bit. So put on a devil smile and said, "Lloyd my friend! How about repaying your senior later? For now, buy a quota for both of us with that gold. We will definitely repay you later. What do you think?"

Daniel did not propose a quota for Bell out of good intentions but for better results. He wanted to corner Lloyd and put more pressure on him with the help of Bell.

Under scrutinizing look of Daniel and the hopeful face of Bell, the teenager's heart got under tremendous pressure.

"Fine! I will buy your way in but remember you must pay back the money as soon as possible" Lloyd said while grinding his teeth.

"Yes! Yes! How can we forget your favor!" Lloyd became the best buddy for Bell at this instant. While Daniel just nodded in agreement.

Lloyd originally wanted to earn all the lost money by selling the information to both of his friends but everything went south. Now he has to pay for them from his own pockets to regain their trust.

"Alright! Let's decide! Who will search for which characters and move fast! Others definitely will be directed in the same direction very soon. So latecomers will only be able to read leftover material" Daniel picked the characters which are difficult to be decoded by himself and left the rest to the other two.

After having breakfast the three rushed to the library. After bribing the librarian they managed to sneak into the restricted area of the library.

There are tens of thousands of books here making it impossible for a newcomer to find any relevant data.

Fear not! As they managed to bribe the staff member for directions.

After picking up the necessary material they got to the table and began to decode the characters onto paper silently.

They are not the only ones here. Daniel found more than fifty new faces like them who are also tinkering around this section.

'Three to five-member groups are in majority here. If all of them come together and share the right information then the Mantra will be decoded in one hour. But who will be willing to share the information they got after spending so much money and time' Daniel is guessing the reasons for all of this.

"What is it?" Lloyd asked Daniel when he saw him observing others in the library.

"Nothing! Let's get back to work", Daniel put his concentration back on the book but he guessed a reason, 'Elders are really cunning! They managed to plant a seed of distrust in youngster's hearts and made them more selfish'

Daniel could imagine the distrust even among the people of the same group. He is very inclined with the idea, that Lloyd and Bell will keep some information to themselves.

'Not that I care though! Once I get the job at hand done then everything else will fall in place for me' Daniel is not interested in their information at all. For he had all the characters they are searching for now.

So they need the information that Daniel got but he did not need theirs. Even if they provide all the information, it could only be used as verification.

It was evening when both got their jobs done. Daniel who completed his work early has been reviewing the known characters just to be on the safe side.

Exiting the library three went for a quick dinner and returned to Daniel home to copy the relevant information.

First, Bell took all the notes he had written so both of them could copy. Next Lloyd took his notes and lastly it was Daniel's turn.

Not that he cared but Daniel still put a smile when they shared their information completely.

Daniel thought they had value as underlings so he gave the latest information he decoded but he still kept his personal notes private.

After both got the complete 'Ascension Mantra' they beamed in happiness. Only they know how much work they had done to reach this step.

"Now we can return the books even before the deadline", Bell said the words that are in everyone's heart.

Not willing to delay, both rushed back to their residence after a quick goodbye.

Daniel also locked the door after they left and picked up all the personal notes he stacked away secretly. Referring to every single character in the golden book Daniel prepared a perfect version for himself.

'This is my limit!' Daniel knows this is the best he could do at this time and any changes will have to wait.

He put both the original and written one in the meditation room and went to the backyard.

'Let's freshen and mediate before starting! It will be a good evening to start' Daniel is also a little eager to begin cultivation.