Prodigious Disciple

I woke up the next day with massive cramps, but after taking a refreshing bath and having my breakfast, I felt like new. I resumed my task of moving logs, this time it was a bit more arduous with all the compiled fatigue. But still, I managed to do more runs, thankfully without collapsing this time.

A week after that, I managed to move all of the logs, which accounted for 350 pieces fully.

I was even able to carry two at a time, but never was able to get the third one, Nocturne called it the unbreakable human limit, where without further training the bridge can never be breached. One must always become stronger so that this human limit will rise making room for more growth.

"Very well, Basara," said Master Shen "Now do you want to learn the way of the blade?" he said

"Yes!" I said, "But first tell me why did I have to carry those logs?" I added

"Those are for what we will be doing next," he said "Hold this" he threw me a wooden sword and said

"Put one of those logs in a horizontal position, and chop them using that sword without breaking the sword."

"That is impossible-" yet before I could finish my statement.

The master swordsman slashed at one of the logs in rapid succession with a wooden stick he had on him.

The log didn't even feel damaged, then parts of it slid to the sides.

I just witnessed something that should have been impossible.

I went toward the log remains and saw that they were cleanly cut, like if they had been slashed with a sharp tool. Looking at his stick, I saw it be blunt and without sharp edges.

"How did you do this?"

"Practice," he said in a grin.

"That can't be, there has to be a trick to it, I am sure, I mean how can this even be happening."

"It can, and I just showed it to you, I know this is hard to grasp, but you will understand with time. I know this is a step above what I intended to show you, but looking at your progress, I believe you will find a way to do it," he said and left

I stood looking baffled at the wooden log and began forming theories on how he managed to do this feat. I mean the thickness of the log was a lot greater than the stick, so the impact should have broken it, but the stick managed to slide through the log and cut it with great accuracy and speed that it was nearly severed.

'It is about control again, if you control your strength and power, you will be able to hone your weapon or any object. You saw him do that to that strand of grass the first time you met him, but this is a feat I think too great for you to achieve at your current strength, why not start with smaller objectives then proceed onwards?' Nocturne said.

I thought about it, then moved away from the pile of logs, I didn't even need to try striking the log with the wooden sword I have in my hand. That's just impossible for the current me.

I took a tall strand of grass and sat down, trying to remember how the swordmaster did his thing and how he reinforced it to become sturdier and stronger.

But after looking at the blade of grass nothing came to me, I even felt that that was impossible and I needed more hints from the swordmaster.

'All humans have innate ability to merge with nature; they have inner energy that transforms into movements and power; in some cases, they can exercise this energy to materialise, like magic. In your case you are unable to use this source, for let me tell you of your ability. It is I."

"Excuse me Nocturne but I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say."

"Your power is derived from the book you hold, and for that, you are forbidden to use any magic besides what is within the book. What the book learns, shall be yours to use, what others exercise will not be of any use to you, you must unlock the secrets within the book to know more about your ability.'

'What does that have to do with this task, I mean if I can't learn what the master is teaching me then why should I bother?'

"Simple, what he is teaching you is already within the book, you only failed to notice. It is balance, once you reach balance between you and your environment you will see for yourself what it is that you need to do in order to achieve your goal.

You needed to be in balance to manage your body in the restraints, you also needed to be in balance with your mind to carry the weights, and you will need to be in balance to see through the weaknesses of your targets, once you are successful with these three tasks, you will be in perfect balance, body, mind, and environment"

I thought about it for a second then remembered.

For the first time I wore the restraints, I was finding difficulties to move with my body, after managing that, I needed to forgo my thoughts and pain to be able to carry the weights. Now I need to focus on learning the weaknesses of the log. There is a link between these things that should make me achieve what I am looking for.

'So if I manage to see through the weakness of an item, how will that help me to cut it?'

'Once the weakness is revealed, you will need another thing. That is if you remember to extend the energy within you, to spread through your weapon of choice, once it does it will be your task to make it sharper, more durable and strong enough to cut through your target. However, there are some materials that can be reinforced to an enormous degree but would still fail to cut through weak points. A blade of grass no matter how reinforced and honed will never cut through ordinary steel, and a honed piece of iron will not cut through a honed piece of steel, the density and material improve the quality of your honing and strengthening.' Said Nocturne

He is quite chatty today…

'Alright then let's give it a try' I said as I took in my hand my wooden sword. (definitely not a pun)

I looked at it, and felt its texture, it was wooden, obviously and it had some small dents, it wasn't perfectly made, it must have been made in a rush. It was even a bit uneven, a side of it had more density as I pressed on it while it didn't also move under the pressure of my fingers, the other was a bit softer and I felt it contract a bit after a strong press with my thumb and index.

It seems that this is the weak side.

As I kept on inspecting the thing, I lost track of time. I looked intently at the sword. Some parts of it were weaker than others, blocking an attack with this side will damage the sword if not break it. Other sides were sturdier and stronger, but receiving an attack from this side will shatter the sword or crack it.

There was another part where it was neither soft nor hard, receiving an attack here will not damage the sword much.

I kept thinking about all of this for a long while, and without noticing, my vision turned black and white, and several spots on the sword revealed themselves to me. About a few hundred tiny spots, with three of them being quite big and looked to have hundreds of veins growing out of it.

'Monochrome vision' said Nocturne

'What is this?'

'It is the first level of the Monochrome world. You can see weaknesses with this. Getting better and higher understanding of this ability will teach you how to manage it. look around you. You will understand what I mean.'

Taking a look around I saw the world like never before, the ground the walls the flowers and every other object anything and everything was riddled with these red dots, some were big the size of a fist, and some were small like dust particles.

'These represent the weak points of anything, living or object. Cutting through these things will cause their destruction.'

'Very well, this should probably do the trick in cutting those logs'

'This is not enough, though this is far from what the swordsman saw when he cut through those logs, this only shows you the weak points, not the way, or how to cut through them. Even if you use a steel blade to cut through these weak points that wooden log will not be cut down, at least not to the degree, you expect.'

'Then, what to do?'

'First, you will need to learn how to hone your weapon. Then you will need to learn the required strength to cut through any of these things, not all of them need similar power to cut through so you will have to train and practice.'

'Indeed. Alright, I will try, now how do we hone?'

'Take a deep breath, you will feel a small surge of energy within you. Once you breathe you force that energy to float, after further practice you will be able to harness it naturally'

I did as I was told, taking a deep breath and holding a strand of grass in my hand, I tried to circulate the rapidly dissipating energy and push it towards the strand of grass.

It was fruitless at first, so I tried and tried again, then Nocturne said.

'This should not be possible' with a tone filled with surprise.

As I opened my eyes to see, the strand of grass caught fire, yet not any light… a black flame of intense heat… Now, this is interesting!