Vera sat beside a campfire as he roasted meat. The winter cold was receding, new leaves budded on every branch; the forest's vibrant colours were returning, slowly, but surely.
He and Sword Dog hunted for food during the day and ate at night.
However, there was just one problem...
"Why are you still here?" Vera asked as he stared at Mei, who was devouring his skewers as soon as they were ready.
"You broke my forest; I need food." Mei mumbled through a mouthful of food; fat and spices were smeared across her face.
Divine Beast my ass. Aren't you just a slob?
Vera stared at Mei as she consumed his dinner; each meal burnt through the spices Linda had given him.
"By the way, Mei, I've been meaning to ask. Why aren't you a bird?"
Mei's rampant chewing came to a halt for a moment.
"Why aren't you a bird?" She asked Vera and started chewing again.
"I asked because you are in human form, even though you are a phoenix descendant."
"..." She continued to eat without giving Vera an answer.
Having given up on getting a straight answer from Mei, Vera started eating before his skewers disappeared.
After finishing his dinner, he left camp to begin his night training.
North of camp, far enough for the camp's bright flames to seem dim, Vera assumed the lotus position beneath a massive leafless tree.
Canon of the Taowu.
Vast Heavens had left Vera two items with Bao the Zhuyan. One was his halberd; the other was the canon of the Taowu.
"An embankment that doesn't collapse under its own weight..."
The manual's breadth covered the length of Vera's palm. It consisted of three main sections: qi constructs, ####, and ####.
No matter how much Vera perused through the book's list of contents, he wasn't able to read the title of the last two sections.
Even as he attempted to sense its edges the words simply dispersed before he could read them.
"Well, I wasn't able to read the first section either before I reached the native third rank."
Vera swiped through the contents as he read through the first section. To his own surprise he was able to focus as he read the book.
The sound of thick paper swiping mirrored the crackling of firewood. The light of the full moon allowed him to read without disruption.
Vera sat quietly and went through a portion of the first section successfully.
After tucking the book into his robe, he attempted to test one of the techniques he had gone over.
A gentle qi streamed through his fingers to form a complicated structure resembling a human arm.
Two fulcrums attached to each other at their bases, with a thick string extending from the top of the upper arm and connecting to the base of the forearm.
Vera then contracted the string to pull the forearm up; as the fleshy cord contracted, it pressed onto the fulcrum.
While the pressure wasn't quite enough to break the fulcrum, Vera could see how that could happen as it grew.
His arms tingled as memories of his fight with the Rakshasa came to mind.
"The canon suggested that, by creating pressure points that are meant to snap on the bone, we can control the effect of skeletal failure..." Vera remarked as he scratched his head.
While the concept didn't make much sense to him, he doubted the chance of the contents being incorrect.
Following the book's suggestion, Vera thickened the string and used it to pull at the bone.
Within just a few moments, cracks began forming in the qi construct.
Vera marked each crack and then loosened the makeshift tendon.
"Create nodes beneath the cracks that displace the force to an uninjured part of the bone..." Vera slowly read out the book's instructions as he formed nodes under the cracked portion of the bone and connected it to uninjured positions.
"Done! Okay, let's try again."
Having fixed the cracked portion of the structures, Vera began tightening the string again.
100 jin, no damage.
500 jin, no damage.
700 jin, visible increase in strain, no damage.
1000 jin, extreme strain, no damage.
1200 jin; cracks formed at the same points as before, but under a greater weight they were still holding up.
1500 jin; cracks formed over pressure points and the points they were connected to with the nodes.
Vera loosened the string again.
"Hm... the 'bone' was able to take 500 jin more before it reached a critical point." Vera stared at the bone with a complicated expression; he had given up on figuring out how the structures worked for now.
Vera continued to tinker with the structures for the rest of the night.
***
Dawn came as a rude awakening to most, but for the sleepless Vera, it only signified the start of a new day.
After torturing the bone for an entire night, Vera returned to camp to find Mei using his blanket.
The urge to kick a sleeping woman burst through Vera's mind.
Thankfully, the now awake Sword Dog was not happy with Mei's use of Vera's blanket.
"Argh!" Mei yelped as Sword Dog pulled the blanket off her, letting daylight awaken the Divine Slob.
Vera knelt down and ruffled Sword Dog's fur while he praised him.
"Good boy!"
"Why did you do that...?" Mei whined as she blocked the sun with her hand.
"You woke up just in time." Vera spoke as he extended his palm to her, "Firewood Mei, give me firewood."
Mei threw a few root fragments onto Vera's palm and shooed him away as she tried to sleep again.
Vera choked back a retort as he saw Mei go to sleep again; he walked to his rucksack and pulled out his waterskin.
A gentle stream of water caused a catastrophic reaction.
"ARGH! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" Mei screamed at Vera, almost slipping into Fighting Mei.
"Get up, and go wash up, you damn slob. Also, grow the fragments before you leave." Vera responded with a grin stretching to the edge of his cheeks.
After a long night of reading and testing, pestering a young divine beast gave him a sense of peace.
After creating the firewood, the distraught Mei skulked her way to the nearest lake as Vera began cooking breakfast.
Vera pulled out a few spices he had picked up along the way and some that Linda had packed for him to lather the tenderised meat.
"I never thought hippo meat would taste so good..." He mumbled as he coated the meat with spices to remove its gamey flavour.
His eyes shifted to Mei, who was slowly walking to the lake.
"Mei, eat this." He spoke as he threw a sweet that he'd carried from the five planes to her.
Mei caught the item and ate it without a second thought, nor a first.
Her glum expression morphed into a bright smile as she chewed on the sweet Vera had given her.
"Wake up on time tomorrow, and brush your teeth properly."
Mei gave Vera a vigorous nod and pranced to the lake; a quiet smile crept onto Vera's face.
Perhaps, the Divine Slob wasn't all bad.
***
Meanwhile, in the five planes.
Two men and a demon sat side by side in an inner courtyard.
The courtyard was embanked by a polished wooden platform; each wall was adorned by refined black iron weapons.
"Elem, what did you learn from the sparring sessions last night?" Danho asked with a calm tone.
Elem's brows furrowed as he recalled the previous night's spar.
"My Sword art lacks explosive power."
"Hm... expand on that."
"My sword technique allows me to throw off my opponents during battle, but in the long run they adapt to it. Even if I have a tempo and structural advantage, I can't end the battle due to its lacking power."
Danho nodded as he listened to Elem's reflection. "How can you fix that?"
Creases formed over the corner of Elem's eyes. "I need to reduce technicality and focus on raw power."
Danho's nodding halted. He sat silently, letting Elem continue his reflection.
"Hm... If not raw power, how do I fix my techniques?"
"Elem, what does your method focus on?" Danho responded with a question.
"My method focuses on using movement and sword arts to break my opponent's rhythm."
"What benefit is there in breaking an opponent's rhythm?"
"Well... isn't the benefit in exposing weak points?"
Danho let Elem's words linger.
The creases over Elem's eyes grew deeper as he contemplated what he had said.
"Ahh! Are you suggesting I focus on exploiting the weak points more?" He exclaimed, his eyes latched onto Danho, waiting for approval.
A smile grew on Danho's face.
"Somewhat. More clearly put, I want you to fight like the blue oaf to your left. If your method focuses on tempo and rhythm, don't half-ass it. Go all in and be aggressive when a weak point opens."
"Thank you, Danho."
"Hm... Don't worry about it. Now onto you, Santa. What did you learn from yesterday's spar?" His expression contorted into a grimace.
Santa twiddled his thumbs as he stared at the floor; his face was generously lathered with bruises.
"You are very strong when you get angry." Santa replied with a frown; his answer caused Danho's grimacing to grow in intensity.
"No, you stupid oaf, DON'T GULP DOWN MY DUKUANG WITHOUT ASKING ME!" Danho yelled at the shameless blue ogre, barely holding himself back from 'sparring' with him right now.
"Yes, Danho, I have learned from your words. I'll tell you before I finish it next time."
Thankfully, Elem held Danho back before Santa's face turned purple.
After a few moments to calm down, Danho reverted to his calm expression.
"Hm... Now that the both of you have reflected, to some extent, go rest. I've arranged another fight for you two at the Pure Arts colosseum."
"Yes, senior!" Elem bowed towards Danho and headed back to his room.
Danho turned to Santa and continued speaking.
"Santa, I understand that you are unhappy with fighting without qi, but this is important for you. Most of the opponents you will find at your level already have solid foundations. If you want to be able to compete, you must learn the basics of fighting." His expression turned serious; Santa realised he was fooling around now.
"Hm... I'll focus on my techniques."
"Good. We only have a few more good fighters in this region, so make the most of it."
Santa nodded at Danho and was about to turn back, but Danho stopped him and handed him a pouch.
"Take this. Next time you want a drink, just go out and buy some for yourself."
Santa's frown weakened.
"Thank you, Danho." He responded as he walked back to his quarters.
After the two had gone to their respective rooms Danho sat down to practice his own techniques.
It sure is hard to raise talented kids...