Training

After they all finished eating, they returned to the hotel and retrieved the things they placed inside, returning them to the carriage. After spending a few days in the city, it was finally time for William to go home.

Ryan went to the front of the carriage to guide the horses, and the group exited through the city gates without a hitch.

...

In the city, at the residence of Gareth King.

"Did you get it?" asked a loud, imposing voice.

A servant kneeled on the floor, shivering in fear.

"N-no, sir... we didn't have enough to win the au-"

"Excuses! I want results, not disappointment!" The voice roared.

It paused for a moment.

"...Get the spirit stone or die trying. GO!"

The servant scrambled up, tripping over their own feet in an attempt to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

"Y...yes sir!"

After the servant left, the voice spoke again, seemingly at an empty room.

"Send some of my guards after them."

A shadow on the floor appeared to move, and it left the room without a sound.

...

"So how do I use this spacial ring?" asked William

Fletcher shrugged.

"I'm not that sure of it myself. I think it still has something to do with your spiritual energy, but I also heard you have to bind it with your blood so no one else can open it."

"Might as well try it." William put his thumb in his mouth and bit down on it.

"Ow!"

William took his thumb out of his mouth.

'...Why isn't it bleeding?'

William sighed.

"Do you have a knife or something similar?"

"I have this."

Fletcher reached into a corner of the carriage and took out a sword, the length of William's arm.

"Uh... no thank you."

William reached into one of the bags full of things he brought along, secretly opening the shop.

'System, show me some small, cheap knives.'

"Affirmative."

______________________________

...

[Crude Dagger] [1 SP]

[Simple Knife] [2 SP]

[Steel Dagger] [3 SP]

[Cheap Butterfly Knife] [3 SP]

...

______________________________

'Just give me the simple knife.'

"Affirmative."

William felt something appear in his hand, and he grasped it, before pulling his hand out of the bag.

In his hand, there was a small knife in a sheathe. William took the sheathe off, and admired the knife, tilting it to reflect the sunlight coming through the window.

He lifted the knife, hesitating for a moment. Then, he quickly cut his thumb with the knife.

Ignoring the stinging pain, William let the blood from his thumb drip onto the spacial ring. William saw his blood seep into the ring, and it quickly disappeared.

Putting the ring back on his finger, he injected some spiritual energy into it.

At that moment, it was as if he could sense a strange empty space, but he couldn't see or feel it.

Shaking his head, he decided to try putting something inside it. He grabbed the knife and pressed it against the ring, and it suddenly disappeared.

In that empty space, he suddenly sensed the knife that he put inside the spacial ring. He imagined it coming back out, and it reappeared in his hand.

"This is amazing!"

William put the knife back into the storage ring to save it for later.

William remembered that he was going to buy that sword called Dusk Bringer.

'System, purchase Dusk Bringer.'

"Purchase [Dusk Bringer] for 150 SP?"

'Yes.'

A sword appeared in his hand this time.

"Woah!"

The entire blade of the sword was pitch black, and it was as long as his arm. The handle itself was a reddish gold, and it had a dragon carved into the bottom made of the same material as the blade.

Fletcher noticed the sword and exclaimed, "Where did you get that from?!"

William scratched his head, thinking of a lie to tell him.

"Ummm... it came from the spacial ring?"

"It did? I thought they would always check everything they sold before it was auctioned," said Fletcher suspiciously.

"...I don't know what happened. I just discovered it in my spacial ring," replied William, trying not to give himself away.

Fletcher seemed to think about what happened and how it ended up in William's hands

"Oh well. It's better this way. Seventy silver coins for a spirit ring, and you got a sword with it too. Not a bad deal."

Fletcher then turned towards William.

"Speaking of that, have you ever used a sword before?"

"I don't have any experience with weapons," said William.

Fletcher looked excited.

"I could help you train with it!"

"...Why are you so excited?"

"It's hard to find a good sparring partner. Besides, Ryan and I are evenly matched, so our battles last forever. If I fight with you, on the other hand..."

William was speechless.

"So you just want to find an easy target."

"...possibly."

William thought about this. Well... he did need to learn how to fight.

"Will you really help me?"

"Yeah, it's no big deal."

"Thank you so much!"

"Like I said, it's not a problem for me."

William rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He had yet to participate in an actual fight. Without any experience, he would find it hard to blend in here. What kind of cultivator wasn't able to fight?"

"So, when do we start?"

"How about the next time we stop for a break?"

"Sure!"

An hour later, the carriage stopped.

"Finally!"

William ran out of the carriage, dragging Fletcher by his arm after him.

"Hurry up!"

"Okay, okay! Stop pulling my arm!"

"Then walk faster!"

"Is this still considered walking!?!"

A moment later, they reached a clearing a small distance away from the carriage.

Ryan stood on the sidelines, watching what they were doing.

Fletcher, who was supposed to teach William, hesitated.

"Uh... I guess we start by seeing how good you are at combat?"

"Sure!"

Fletcher picked up two sticks from the ground and threw one of them at William.

"Catch! These will be our temporary weapons."

William looked at the flimsy stick in his hand that looked like it would snap with even a little force.

"Why don't we use these?"

William navigated to the store and bought two wooden training swords.

"Where did you get those from?"

"Uh... it's a secret."

"... fine, whatever. Keep acting all mysterious."

William tossed a sword to Fletcher.

Fletcher tossed his stick to the ground and caught the sword.

"Okay then."

Fletcher went into a fighting stance, spreading his legs apart while holding his sword in front of him.

"Come at me."

William held his sword with both of his hands and ran at Fletcher, raising his sword into the air, and swinging it down as hard as he could.

Fletcher raised his sword to meet his, tilting it slightly to let William's sword slide harmlessly down the blade and off to the side.

At that point, William had already lost his balance from using too much force and nearly fell. Fletcher took advantage of this by quickly hitting William on the back of his head.

"Ow!"

William held his head in pain and dropped his sword.

"Oh, sorry! Are you okay?"

Fletcher looked worried .

William quickly recovered and picked up his sword.

"I'm fine."

"So do you want to continue?"

"Of course!"

"Okay, then let's keep going!"

For the next hour or so, William continued to spar with Fletcher, trying to get the hang of fighting with a sword.

Eventually, he could hold his ground for more than a few seconds, but due to Fletcher's higher cultivation stage, William found it hard to fight back.

After that, they finally ate and got back on the carriage, continuing back towards William's village.

On the way there, William continued to cultivate, reaching the third stage of the spirit foundation realm within a few days.

Due to this, the carriage stopped so that William could test his newfound strength against Fletcher.

Just before the duel started, William sneakily opened the system, preparing to add points and get stronger.

'System, add three points into my strength, speed, and agility.'

"This will cost 90 SP. Confirm?"

'Yes.'

William felt a comfortable feeling coursing throughout his body.

He then walked outside.

"Ready, Fletcher?"

Fletcher nodded, and they found another place to spar.

William and Fletcher both got ready, taking out their training swords.

"Everyone ready?" Ryan asked.

William and Fletcher both nodded.

"Then let the battle begin!" shouted Ryan. Then, he quietly muttered, "Though it doesn't seem like it'll be much of a fight. After all, William's still in the spirit foundation realm. Last time, he only lasted thirty seconds."

William stood still, beckoning for Fletcher to attack.

Without hesitation, Fletcher ran at him, lightly swinging his sword at William's head. William ducked, slashing with his sword towards Fletcher's exposed side. Fletcher casually blocked the blade, before swiftly retreating.

"I seems you've gotten faster. Your speed and strength are getting close to mine, even though you're still in the foundation establishment realm. You must have a lot of secrets."

William only smiled in response.

"Whatever, let's continue," said Fletcher.

Fletcher charged at William again, slashing his sword down on William's head. William blocked it and retreated, letting Fletcher's sword slide off. Then, he pointed his sword forward, stabbing it towards Fletcher's chest.

Fletcher deflected the blade to the side and swung his sword at William's neck. William quickly retrieved his sword, hastily blocking it, and he was forced to take a few steps backward.

William heard Fletcher's voice.

"I think you're strong enough now. I'm going to use a combat technique now. Ready?"

"What?!" William was already getting suppressed even without Fletcher using them, so he knew he would do much worse if Fletcher was going to use one.

William sighed. Well, he would have to get used to them eventually.

"Just do it."

"Alright then. Watch my movements."

Fletcher moved into a fighting stance and raised his sword into the air. William saw a blue glow cover the blade, before Fletcher swung it in William's direction.

"This move is called illusory blade! I creates a sword out of spiritual energy and attacks your opponent!" shouted Fletcher.

As he did so, Fletcher's sword pointed towards William, and the blue glow covering it suddenly flew out of the sword! The blue glow was in the shape of the wooden training sword, and it quickly flew in a straight line towards William. William knew he should dodge this, but he wanted to see the strength of a combat technique, so he swung his sword at the illusory blade as hard as he could.

His sword and the blade collided, and William heard a loud shattering sound before he was sent stumbling, taking many steps backward before he would regain his balance.

He looked at the sword in his hand and shivered. All that remained of it was a handle and the handguard.

He looked at the ground and saw the scattered fragments of the sword.

"So powerful..."