Kaleichrom's cold, pale face was being tapped by his index finger. It was his habitual gesture of when he paused to think. Scarn dared not make the slightest noise to distract his lord.
"Very well!"
Kaleichrom broke the silence with a high-pitched voice, his ice-colored eyes dropped on Scarn.
"Follow the trail of those two, my dear nephew must surely be with that boy, I want them both here alive and well, take two more with you and don't let me down!"
Scarn nodded nervously "Yes my lord, I leave immediately!"
After bowing, he hurried his pace towards the exit, determined to complete his new mission, there was no room for failure.
Kaleichrom watched Scarn walk out with an evil smile.
The big wolf was still alive because he still had his usefulness, plus the news he received put him in a good mood, making him forget about his failure.
"Ahahaha, Kaleitron it seems that your son will bring me great luck!"
His evil laughter echoed through the hall to outside the castle, all the nearby inhabitants felt chills down their backs. In his eyes he already anticipated the dark plans he had in mind for Rada and Kiba.
Time seemed to fly by.
A little over a month had passed since Rada had begun training with the elder and the Bran brothers.
Every morning, however, before starting, he did not forget to do his usual jkd exercises. It was an ingrained habit that he never forgot. They were various series of moves including kicks, punches, elbows and knees, each of which he alternated with fast and slow strikes.
What made this routine particular was that each blow executed involved the use of weapons, especially blades. Plus each blow was intended to hit every sensitive point on the body.
Rada was performing the blows in the air, but in his mind he was imagining an opponent in which he was inflicting heavy damage. Any martial arts expert who had seen this would have been in a cold sweat imagining the consequences of such blows.
Despite his remarkable progress, which left his teachers stunned, Rada could not help but be a little depressed.
Everything was proceeding as planned, except for one thing, he had not yet managed to cross the door of his pearl, this fact was a great source of frustration for him.
Seeing his progress with the pearl still halted, the elder remained doubtful though, his thick eyebrows furrowed.
There was really nothing he could do for him at that moment, moreover he had no idea what the heart of the problem was. He had some idea that Rada wasn't born with the pearl, but obtained it later, which complicated things.
Generally, the spiritual pearl was inside the bearer from birth, their bond strengthened from childhood to adulthood, through continuous training and long reflection.
But that wasn't the case for Rada; in the span of a few weeks, she found herself doing what normal carriers had been doing for practically a lifetime.
"Since your progress with the pearl is at a standstill, why don't you continue with your cultivation?" suggested the old man.
With little time to spare, the elder decided to devote his attention to cultivating Rada. After all, he couldn't flaunt both powers, it would be a catastrophe.
"Master, I have no idea how to continue with my cultivation, in my country all we learn is only on a physical level, there is very little spiritual," said Rada in a somewhat depressed tone.
"What do you mean?" the Elder was surprised at the news.
"That's right, I don't know how far the warriors of my country have come, everything is based in the training of one's body, but of spiritual power.... Well, that's only at the theoretical level."
Rada tried to tamp down the truth that lay within his words.
His world was completely devoid of spiritual pearls or cultivators with extraordinary powers, much less divine or immortal creatures. These were all things that could only be found in the movies or books of his world.
"Very bizarre indeed..." the old man replied with puzzlement.
He could clearly make out Rada's aura, though very faint, it was the classic aura of a cultivator about to climb to the rank of Apprentice.
In the cultivator's world there were various levels called "ranks" to distinguish one cultivator from another.
Rada, despite his ignorance of the cultivation world, was already at the peak of the Novice rank.
His cultivation level was only a little short of ascending to Apprentice rank.
"Well, you're here with me now, and you'll have to adapt to my methods, understand?"
The Elder was open-minded. Given his travels, he could see much of what ordinary people would generally never see even in their lifetime.
He had no difficulty accepting the boy, although in some ways, he was mysterious even to him.
"Very clear!" Rada accepted without any pretense.
This was a golden opportunity for him, he put aside all his problems with the pearl.
"Good, you seem to know the basics of combat, so let's try to work on your spirit."
The Elder led Rada back to the Room of Spirit and Mind.
"Here, you have everything you need to ascend to the rank of Apprentice," said the Old Master.
"And how should I do that?" asked Rada.
He still had some trouble walking around the room, but slowly he began to get used to it.
"Very simple, in order to ascend from one degree to another, you must accumulate the spirit of the of the heavens and the earth that live around you and break the barrier between the various degrees. The more you succeed in transcending each degree, the greater the effort required," explained the elder.
"All you need is to meditate with peace in your heart and try to grasp the secrets of the spirit around you. Being able to understand its secrets will become part of you, strengthening both your spirit and your body."
Rada nodded slightly.
There was still some doubt, but he still decided to rely on the old master's advice and his instincts.
"Fine, I'll leave you here, it's just like last time when you were here with Kiba, this time however you'll be alone, take all the time you need, don't rush. In the world of both cultivators and bearers, haste is often the source of great misfortune, so concentrate and try to feel your spirit. When you're done come to me, I'm sure you'll be full of questions ohohoh!"
The elder vanished as usual into thin air leaving only the echo of his strange laughter.
Loneliness was often a constant, especially, for those who aspired to become the strongest rulers of their time.
But for Rada this was not a problem, he was used to being alone, he was not an antisocial type, on the contrary, but he also loved being on his own.
With the Elder's words firmly in his mind, he set out on the road to cultivating his spirit.