The way Bastian understood it; martial arts in this world were extremely advanced, to the point where they involved mastering universal laws. The Dao of the Sword was no different; it was a very profound Dao, one that could not be underestimated.
A Dao was a path to understanding the laws of the universe. There were three Supreme Dao upon which the universe was based upon. The Dao of Space, the Dao of Taiji and the Dao of Spirit., each of these were pillars of which this universe stood and were further divided into many other Dao.
The Dao of Space for example, was further divided into subsections like the Dao of the Five Elements and the Dao of Time. The Dao of the Taiji was divided into the Dao of Yin and the Dao of Yang. The Dao of the spirit is divided into the Dao of life and the Dao of death.
Space, Taiji and Spirit were the Supreme Dao. The following were Celestial Dao. Below Celestial Dao were True, Greater and Lesser Dao. True Dao, Greater Dao and Lesser Dao were often composed of two or more components from Celestial Dao. An example was the Dao of the Sword
The Dao of the Sword was directly under the Dao of Metal, and had parts from other Celestial Dao. Its rank as a Dao was somewhat baffling to Kenshin, so Bastian was also somewhat baffled. Apparently it had all three ranks of Lesser, Greater and True. It depended on how far one's mastery of the Dao itself went. These kinds of Dao were referred to as Variable Dao.
Currently Kenshin was only at the introductory phase of the Lesser Dao of the Sword but this alone was quite an achievement. Due to the fact that he had Kenshin's perspective, Bastian knew how significant knowledge into the Dao was. For example, an Acolyte with knowledge in the Dao, would be able to overcome a Scholar who did not have knowledge in the Dao, assuming that the Acolyte's knowledge was applicable in battle.
At Bastian's level, he could already face Fighters by virtue of his physical body alone but thanks to this knowledge, Bastian's technique had increased by leaps and bounds, guaranteeing victory over any Fighter he met. The only thing Bastian was unhappy about was the Dao itself.
I have no interest in martial arts, let alone swordsmanship.
Although this information was very useful, Bastian had no intention of cultivating as a warrior. He could cultivate as both a warrior and a mage if he wished, because the legacy he had received from his Bloodline Awakening had skills from both sides. Bastian though, felt that was too much of a strain. So he decided he would focus on the mage side.
Unfortunately, the legacy he had, had no spells to use until he was a Scholar. So for that moment, he could not use any spells from his legacy.
That's alright; I will just have to learn other spells for now.
After adjusting to the information he had received, Bastian decided it was time they left the place and finished the ritual. To finish the ritual, all they had to do was to harmonize their Soul Force, which was the easiest part of the process.
The two each took a strand of Soul Force and linked it with the other, adjusting certain aspects of it, until they were as similar as possible. As some point, the two strands would become one and the ritual would be complete.
Both Kenshin and Bastian experienced drastic changes. Kenshin felt his Soul Force become much stronger and resilient, his aura also became less dark. Due to his negative karma, Kenshin had always felt a dark and somewhat evil presence around him, but at that moment, that presence had gone!
Could it be that my karma has improved? Impossible! For my karma to increase it would mean that Bastian's karma must be incredibly good. Yet he got into this predicament... karma is something difficult to understand. If Bastian was able to change my karma to this degree then...
Kenshin had all of Bastian's memories up to this point, and after a careful analysis, he came up with an incredible idea. Excited, he looked toward Bastian to tell him the news, only to see his counterpart in dire straits.
Bastian was kneeling on the ground, his eyes were wide open, his teeth were clattering and his body was shivering. When Kenshin saw what was happening he felt pity for Bastian. He knew quite well what was happening.
The ghost like creatures outside had an incredibly dense bloodlust, one that could induce fear of stupendous potency. They were fear incarnate itself.
Once they locked onto your existence, they would direct their intent toward you, intending to harm your soul. Even if they could not touch you, just their bloodlust alone was enough to make the weak minded insane. Kenshin realized an important fact at this moment.
Bastian is only able to resist the bloodlust due to my experiences and my insights into the Dao, if I had not given him my perspective...
Kenshin shuddered at the thought of what might have happened had he not given Bastian his perspective. Not only did it improve Bastian's battle capability, but it also improved his mind's fortitude.
Perhaps Bastian really does have good karma, but for his karma to even improve my own, my idea must definitely be correct.
Kenshin did not try to assist Bastian through his experiences; he knew quite well that this was a battle that Bastian had to fight on his own. Because Bastian now had Kenshin's perspective, it would only be a matter of time for him to get used to the bloodlust.
After what seemed to be a few hours, Bastian regained his sentience. He groggily stood and collected his wits about him. After going on a rant complaining to Kenshin about not warning him, Bastian managed to calm down. The bloodlust was still there, it was still just as intense as before, but Bastian had somewhat gotten accustomed to it.
"Ok, Kenshin as you have my memories, you understand the situation outside. We can choose to leave this place anytime we want now that the ritual is over." Kenshin nodded to Bastian's words. "I am going to leave our souls under the protection of this Soul Force bubble for now. I am confident I will be able to maintain it as we are conscious. What's more important is the outside. We should formulate a plan as to what we are going to do when we get outside.
For that I will need your help. I need to make sure we are on the same page." continued Bastian.
"For now I have no objective, so I do not mind following you for a bit. With our skills escaping slavery will not be difficult. I just want you to know that I do not talk much in real life. I am only communicating with you because of the circumstance we are in. The moment we leave, I will have you talk on my behalf as well." said Kenshin.
One of the advantages of the Soul Brethren bond was that it allowed those involved to communicate telepathically. Bastian did not object to Kenshin's words and nodded. Although he did not know much about Kenshin's life, he knew quite a bit about his thought process, due to having his perspective, resulting in the two of them knowing each other very well, even though they had only known each other for a short period of time.
"Okay Kenshin, here is what we are going to do when we wake up. I assume we will be together, so we are going to have to..."
Kenshin listened to Bastian's plan. He had to admit that he liked it, simply because Bastian would do most of the talking. After he heard the entirety of Bastian's plan, Kenshin did something he had not done for a long time. He smiled.
...
In a room in a certain house, two bodies were lying on the same bed. They were Bastian and Kenshin.
After Kai and Shasha had discovered that Bastian had initiated a Soul Brethren contract, he had brought the two to his house and placed them in a room. They had been unconscious for a fortnight, causing Shasha to be quite anxious.
For many nights Shasha could not sleep, and many times Kai had to console him in the former's room, such as on this night.
"Young master, you worry too much. Please sleep. I am sure things will work out somehow." said Kai, in a futile attempt to placate his master.
"How am I supposed to sleep, when one of my greatest discoveries has tied his fate with my worst nightmare!!" bellowed Shasha.
Kai shook his head and was about to say some more comforting word to his master, when a servant came barging into Shasha's quarters.
"Young master, Sir Kai, I have urgent news!" said the old servant while panting. He had clearly sprinted here with all his might.
"What is it?" said Kai in a chilly tone. He had been putting a lot of effort into getting Shasha to sleep, and he did not like the fact that his efforts were being interrupted. But when he heard what the servant told him, he almost jumped with shock.
"It's the purple haired boy and the white haired boy! They are awake and perfectly healthy!"