Since our little attack on the cult of the Gray Flames does the gallon drinker seem to have gained a strange sense of urgency or was it of purpose? Anyway, he started to move with more determination.
Which translates into the fact that now we don't stop anymore, we are always moving to the next city, our breaks are to carry out our training routine, so we go back to walking/running, until Kaz decides to zombify us and the cycle repeats.
As a consequence I can't concentrate on anything but the pain in my muscles, if I try to use my sixth sense, I can't concentrate enough to filter anything, it scares me, I feel blind and deaf, on the road without cover.
Better not think about it, I'll think about something else like: if I should use the lapis stone to synchronize myself with fire and start my advance to the third stage.
Yup. I don't have the luxury of waiting for us to get to this tower before starting to do something, anything at all, to reverse my situation at least a little.
Because of the old drunk's non-stop training regimen I barely regained any Ki, my dantian looks like a lake that has dried up, and has been hit by a light drizzle, so not the best of conditions for a breakthrough, but I can start to familiarize myself with the rhythm of the flames through the lapis, it's not much but it's something at least.
Every time Kaz zombifies us, since I don't need to control my body I will increase the efficiency of my training by adding one more task, I try to synchronize with the energy of the flames that the stone imitates, yes it imitates, I see the points of light that represent the combustion process in the sixth sense, I don't create a flame, this training is just to familiarize myself with fire for now.
I am always halfway through forming a connection with the flames, and I observe the reactions that the points of light have to each of my attempts: whether they stir or calm down, clump together or move away.
I'm testing these little details each time Kaz syncs with us, creating a weird multitasking training cycle.
"There's a city five hundred meters away, when we get in, take a nap, you guys, especially you Mingten." The old drunk speaks suddenly.
City already? We haven't been walking that long, are we?
When these questions start popping into my head, I understand why Kaz wants me to rest: I'm mentally exhausted, obviously.
So exhausted that I didn't even realize how taxing the training was for my body, not in a good way, it's more like a: I didn't even realize that something hurt, because there's something else that hurts even more, kind of situation.
Looks like I overdid it.
I don't regret it, in fact I'll probably try something similar as soon as I rest my logic to do this kind of stupidity is simple: I have an old drunk, with gallons of alcohol in his blood, emperor killer, to stop me before I reach a point of no return.
Hnm, that sounds irresponsible, better this way: I have a Kaz to stop me.
Did I refer to the old drunk with respect?!
Damn, I'm really sick.
I think I'd better just rest.
After I gave up training until my brain burned out and decided to really rest, the five hundred meters to town was boring, no big deal.
Not that as soon as we entered the city anything changed, mostly the same as always, a walled city, two- and three-story buildings made of cheap materials, with the exception of the few mansions in the center of the city, a street that turns into a market. , well, almost a market for being occupied by a ridiculous amount of booths.
"We leave tomorrow an hour before sunrise." The gallon drinker speaks, dryly, without an ounce of emotion.
No, I think it's fairer to say he's unhappy with how slow we're going.
Well, we can't run at the speed of sound, so be patient, old monster.
As usual we look for an inn of the type that we can ignore that exists, we booked three rooms. Kaz has plenty of money despite being a liquor thief.
Did he steal the drinks to save the money he earned as a blacksmith?
What the hell am I thinking? I need to sleep.
Decided to throw myself on the bed without changing, I'm going to take a shower as soon as I wake up, and I let out a muffled murmur through the pillow:
"With his personality, it's possible."
After about five minutes of tossing and turning in bed, I finally fell asleep.
I am in a pavilion of weapons, swords, spears, halberds and axes among others, all held on shelves decorated with lapis stones of all colors.
A lucid dream, hmn, I try to move one of the swords, nothing, my hand touches the sword but no sensation in my hand and I can't move it either.
Lucid and no agency, well, that sucks.
Creak
With a creak an ornate wooden door opens to my left, through the door two people pass, a child and an adult, the child a girl with short red hair, green eyes and barely visible freckles on her cheeks, the adult a man with long red hair and black eyes, both wearing martial uniforms.
"From today you will practice with the weapons of this pavilion." The red haired man tied in a ponytail says to the child.
"Alone?" The girl who barely reached the adult's waist asks, trying to see the adult's eyes.
"Most of the time." The adult speaks in a monotone. "Sometimes the elders will come to check on your progress."
"No!" The girl says forcefully "I want to play with the other heirs, not with those old swords!" The girl puffs out her cheeks and crosses her arms in dissatisfaction after speaking.
"MINGTEN."
The girl stops any sign of body dissatisfaction, and stands at attention, well she tries.
'Dad, normally you were so indifferent that I both looked forward to and feared when you showed some emotion.'
'That was the first time I entered the Domain-breaking pavilion, ahh, I can't believe I called weapons to kill gods 'old swords'. Technically they are old.
"Never speak of the weapons of this pavilion with disrespect again, especially in front of the elders, understood?" My father scolds the me of years ago.
"But they are old." And I obviously didn't hear it, I think as I watch the little 'me' silently kicking the floor.
"These weapons are ancient, not just old, Mingten." My father had this way of speaking and expression that left you wondering if he was always irritated, or simply indifferent to everything around him. "They are the foundation of our order, it is through weapons like the ones in this pavilion that we learn to use power to break all the bonds of the world."
"If there are weapons outside the pavilion why do I need to train here?" Sometimes I still ask myself that.
"Because of the burden of inheritance you're going to carry." My father responds with a small hint of sadness in his eyes.
Inheritance the fuck, we were stabbed in the back before all that training paid off.
Enough of that. How do I wake up?
Tired of the melancholy these memories are causing me, I look for a way to wake up. I try to leave the pavilion, it didn't work, as soon as I go through the door I come back here. Destroying the shelves, too, I can't even touch them.
Well that's all I have left, sorry dad.
With these thoughts I approach my father, collect my energy, or the dream equivalent of it, in my fist and punch my father in the face.
With a sound of broken glass the dream ends, and I wake up.
I get up and look out the window.
It's still a little while before we leave.
I'll take the opportunity to cultivate a little, I don't want to spend the rest of the trip with my Ki at the minimum.
I start accumulating both Air and Rupturet Ki when I reach the limit of what I can accumulate before Kaz drags us to the next town. I look at the rings with the pencil stone, as Kaz doesn't need one and Baha can only keep one anchor for now, so I'm left with two rings, one for flames and one for rocks, granite specifically.
Hugh, I can almost feel the stone-handed punch I took from the guide.
I probably won't be able to open a third channel on my dantian before we get to the tower, not that that stops me from trying to get the job done, at a reasonable pace this time obviously.
Before I can continue training I feel Baha approaching, he knocks on the door twice and says:
"Mingten, we're leaving in ten minutes."
"Okay, I'll be right down." I answer, and start packing my things.
Despite saying pack my things, in the end it's just changing clothes and getting my sword, and of course checking if I've left anything that can be used to track me.
Paranoia doesn't go away overnight, and in my case it's almost an advantage, almost.
Well, divination and tracking isn't my specialty, but from what little Yanan has taught me one of the most basic methods of tracking is using dead tissue like nails and hair to establish a connection between the tracker and the tracked.
So I obviously clean my room of anything like that before I go downstairs.
*********
"BAHA! Wake up now, I won't wait for you forever." With the voice of a nightmare in human form waking me up, soon all hope of a peaceful day is gone.
"I'm going." I say still sleepy.
"Bastard, you can't even wake someone up politely." I grumble after putting on my clothes and straightening my backpack, "If he wasn't basically invincible, he'd see a revolution."
"Ahh, and before you go down go wake up Mingten."
"Yes sir." I reply with a shiver running down my spine, I thought he was already down. Can't you make some noise when you walk monster from hell?
Despite my internal complaints I still do as the request, after all as far as I know he is invincible, what would I gain by disagreeing with him over trivial things.
After passing Mingten's room, I make my way down to the inn's reception where Kaz and I have a light breakfast while we wait about ten minutes for Mingten to come down.
"Be faster next time." And that's all Kaz has to say.
"You can see chivalry isn't your strong suit, Kaz." Mingten speaks.
Even though I've only been traveling with them for two days Kaz tends to ignore any compliments or name-calling thrown at him, despite him pretending to accept the compliments, it almost gave me the impression that he's indifferent to everything actually and every emotion faked.
But Mingten's questions and the reaction he had made me change my mind: the indifference that is forced, by himself.
But arrogance or confidence, call it what you want, the line is really thin, it looks real. At least that's what I think, it's not like you can see all facets of someone in two days.
"Come on, your training starts again as soon as we leave town."
But I know one facet of him, he's a sadistic annoying to put up with.