Martial Art

Kira stared at the beautiful descending sun, she still had a couple of hours until darkness.

She concluded that it would be best to train in a martial art, now that she had taken her first step on the path of cultivation.

The shame of the pathetic child-like puch still burning in her heart. She grabbed her little bag. She still did not understand how everything fit inside. It wasn't bigger than her hand but had at least the volume of an average-sized cupboard. 

'I am only at the beginning of my journey. I am nowhere close to being able to understand how these things work.' Kira contemplated.

The fabric of the pouch was as fine as the finest silk, or so she imagined silk to feel like. Not that she had ever touched silk before. 

But the pouch felt so unworldly and different in her hand. This morning the bag didn't catch her attention like that. 

'Weird. Is it because of my cleansing of the skin? I think my sense of touch has greatly improved. This is amazing!' she rejoiced.

Kira stuck her arm into her bag and pulled out the Windy Hands Martial Technique. 

'Let's learn how to punch correctly', she chuckled. 

Walking over to a small rock she took a seat. The wind ruffled the bushes and trees, it felt cold on her damp hair. She pulled the book open and began reading the old manuscript. 

On the first few pages of the, by time, worn-down yellowish booklet.

Was the Introduction:  Windy Hands

Windy Hands is a martial art developed by an ancient cultivator who mastered the wind. It emphasizes fluidity, speed, and unpredictability, allowing the practitioner to move like a gust of wind, elusive, swift, and devastating. This style embodies the calm breeze and the violent storm, giving its wielder control over air currents. It is composed of two Techniques:

Whispering Palm:

A gentle strike that channels the wind to slip past an opponent's defences, striking at vital points with precision. The blow feels like a breeze but leaves a devastating impact beneath the surface.

Stormbreaker Fist:

The practitioner gathers wind Qi in their fists, delivering a concentrated strike that explodes with the force of a Typhoon upon impact, shattering defences and sending foes flying.

Philosophy:

The essence of Windy Hands lies in adapting to the flow of battle, like the wind itself. It teaches the practitioner to remain formless and unpredictable, striking when least expected and vanishing before the counter. The strength of the wind lies not in raw power but in its ability to wear down mountains over time. Practitioners of Windy Hands embody patience and precision.

It is recommended to pair this martial art, with a movement technique of the wind attribute. Which should be trained simultaneously.

After Kira read through the introductory pages. She arrived at the techniques which were detailed by very technical and detailed sketches of the different motions and Qi movement.

It was overwhelming because Kira feared she would never understand it in a million years. But the more she read the more everything made sense. 

An hour passed in which she was utterly and completely immersed in it.

The Orphanage never cared much about the children. But Kira couldn't help but feel some gratitude that they at least taught them how to read. Writing on the other hand was not.

Her eyes sparkled with excitement and enlightenment. When she finally closed the book. And sat it aside on the rock.

'This is a lot to process, but I should be able to practise some moves. Before that I have to read the movement technique too.' she groaned.

'It is getting darker, better hurry if I want to achieve anything in the martial way today.' she stressed. 

Kira didn't know that it was already a huge success to Achieve Body Tempering I on the first day, let alone try to train not one but two martial arts on the same day. 

She only felt a sense of urgency and yearned for more knowledge and power.

Kira quickly snatched the Movement Technique. Absorbing as much knowledge as she could. The booklet was a lot thinner than the last and was also Yellow. From the sight of it, it had seen better days. But that didn't faze Kira a bit.

Her brain became like a sponge in the desert.

Gale Step:

A movement technique that allows the practitioner to merge with the wind, disappearing and reappearing with the swiftness of a gust.

Of course on her cultivation level, she could only disappear for a split second and emerge a couple of steps further away. Nonetheless, Kira's heart beat with excitement. 

It didn't take long until she put the manual aside. 

Closing her eyes she went into a meditative position and went through all the information she just obtained and pieced it together in her mind, playing the movements in front of her inner eye. 

After a while, she slowly opened her radiant green eyes. 

With an excited hop, she sprang to her feet leaving deep footprints in the chilling sand.

With uncontained enthusiasm, she skipped towards her designated punching boulder.

Kira took a deep breath, to calm herself. She smelled the sand, the moistness of the river and the leaves of the vegetation. 

Falling into the basic stand of the Windy hands. Slightly leaned forward hands dangling relaxed at her hips. Paired with the feet position of Gale step which was on her feetballs. Balancing her weight ready to explosively move in any direction. 

Then she dashed forward and used Whispering Palm.

A loud cracking sound was heard followed by a little shriek. 

All Kira felt was cold sand on her face. She had lost her balance after the strike. Groaning she prepped herself up and dusted off the sand that was everywhere her mouth, eyes, nose, clothes and hair. 

"Eww, puh. Disgusting." the sandy girl spat.

'I need to watch my balance more. Only practice makes perfect' Kira encouraged herself. 

Her eyes were finally free of sand. Trailing towards the rock.

 "No way! I did that? Heavens," she exclaimed switching from the rock to her hands, then back to the rock a couple of times. 

A huge chunk the size of a head was missing. Sprinkled as splitters around her.

Her chest burned with exhilaration. A little squeal escaped her sand-covered lips.

'Cultivation is amazing! Even in the first stage. This force would be enough to break multiple bones or even kill a person. I can't waste time I need to practise more.' 

Kira found herself already addicted to her new power and the desire to become more powerful was the only thing on her mind. 

A few sand eating sessions later she managed her first time without losing balance. Which motivated her only more. 

Kira practised for hours until the moon hung high over the valley illuminating the peaks in an illuster light, and painting the river a mysterious silver.

The rock was long gone, no rocks were left at the small river bay she stayed the entire day. The sand was buried under a layer of stone shards. Only then, and with the feeling of having achieved an acceptable level of harmony between the two techniques, she stopped for today.