My training progresses. It's no longer sword slashes but ranging from speed exercises, to muscle straining activities, to hand-to-hand combat training. Alexander educates me time to time about the cultivation world, teaching me techniques I've already heard of and learnt. Though, some have progressed, a millennia was enough to change the cultivation world as a whole.
In my room, I think about the fight I just had a while ago. 'Alexander was right, my attack patterns were flawed, even a dog could sense it. The only reason I even managed to win was because the guy was a brute who relied on brutish tactics to defend instead of meaningful counterattacks. There's little to what I can accomplish with this current body. Even gripping my swords are a problem. I'll have to start training more intensively inorder to awaken my dantian. Once then, progressing will be much harder, due to the fact that I start to accumulate Qi, but I'll have a goal to set.
I head down the mansion taking my pair of twin katanas with me. On the way, I notice my father, he gives me his approving gaze, but I won't back down even if he doesn't approve like my mother. I open the door to find a smiling Alexander already waiting for me. I give him the death glare, but as always he's aloof and doesn't care about the fact that he is torturing a young boy. He leads me downstairs but on my way I feel gazes on me. I turn to see my parents looking at me with saddening eyes. For them, if things were better I would've just stayed at home and rested all day to just grow up a normal person, serve the royal family as a royal advisor or maybe even promoted to the duke of a small size royal family and live a happy short life of maybe ninety years. But even at that circumstance, I would've cultivated. I've been through the cultivation world before, I've seen countless deaths and massacres, I've witnessed the rise and fall of entire empires, more of which I caused though. I refuse to live as an ant.
Alexander and I pass through our usual training area, we head outside the gate and I'm forced to ask, "Are we heading somewhere". "Yeah we're heading out for your training", he responds. "I thought someone of my status isn't allowed to step outside of the gate", "Come on, don't be like that, we're only heading out for an extension of your training. You'll need an actual field and get a hold of layout of your environment, anyway, try to keep up". With that he dashes forward, I try to keep up, using all the speed lessons Alexander taught me to dash forward. Alexander seems to be gliding through the air. He shows how his speed is unmatched as he dashes like a speeding like a speeding cart down the hill. I lose sight of him very quickly, but I can tell where he is heading. I use my 12 year old short legs to dash forward heading to where I think is Alexander is waiting for me. But to my utter surprise, I don't find Alexander,instead, I find three huge boars waiting for me Infront of a large cave.
They look hungry, they probably haven't eaten in a long time. 'I'm sure Alexander set this up, no wonder he sped up so quickly, he wanted me to purposely find this place. But how am I meant to fight these animals without a dantian. They should be at least rank 0 boars with high tier energy. They look at me with intense gazes as they salivate, Alexander probably trappped them here for long awaiting this moment. He should be close by atleast, I'm not so unimportant that he wouldn't atleast care to keep me alive or save me if I'm unable to handle this situation. The saliva in the boars' mouths began to salivate more rapidly. The gain water properties and become flexible whips which began to crack everywhere. ' can't imagine coming out of this with only bruises, but I still have to try, let's see if my dantian will awaken after this'.
The pigs charge forward, cracking their whips in the air. I jump high in the air flipping directly over one of them. They're fast, but I'm still able to hold my ground since there basically around the same strength of the guard I fought. The pigs were around the size of an average human, their teeth were dark yellow and their saliva kept changing color ranging from transparent, to light blue. Their eyes shine red, and their thich brown fur flutters in the wind.
Suddenly, their fur seemed to stand out like that of porcupines. Which scrape my skin. I bleed, but is only superficial, it will be my head next if I'm not careful.
They corner me from all sides as they think they can trap me with that little encirclement, but before they charge, I throw one of blades forward, and it digs into the feet of a boar, placing it in the ground. It is startled and groans in pain but I'm already Infront of it, seizing the opportunity I created. I stab the second blade in it's eye as I grab the second one from it's foot piercing it in the back, but the skin is a little bit tougher than I imagined so it doesn't dig in deeply.
It crashes on the ground, it's still alive, but too numb to move. The other ones are already charging ahead, and I forced to divert my attention from the first boar making me unable to land the finishing blow.
One of them crackles their saliva at me and it whips my hand cutting it deeply. Groaning won't solve anything so I continue my assault. The pigs are now wary of me, so they don't allow me to get too near to them. I try to avoid the crackling whips of spit. But the boars' are on my tail, so they start spitting towards me. I dodge all of counterattacking again by throwing the few stones and logs of wood I can see on the ground. One of the stones eventually fall into the mouth of the second boar. It chokes on it for sometime, rendering helpless and I don't hesitate to deliver a fatal blow to the head.
The third boar seems to panic, it watches as it's companions fall one by one to the ground helplessly. It starts to go on a frenzy, and suddenly bites his companions. Blueish starts to enter his mouth. Qi, the energy I've been trying to absorb in order to unlock my dantian.
The pigs eyes glow with a brighter color, and it's fur suddenly becomes needles.