Keith sat cross-legged with Gerrad and Nessa infront of him, breathing as instructed.
"Inhale and hold it for 13 breaths of time."
Keith did as his father said and held his breath. During this period, he felt every part of his body with clarity he had never experienced before.
After a series of instructions, Keith reached a critical point in his breakthrough.
"Now inhale, hold this for 39 breaths of time."
This time, Keith felt as ever cell of his body was begging for oxygen, soon, he started feeling dizzy.
"Exhale,this time, you'll feel every single bone of your body, focus on them, and your body will tale care of the rest." Gerrad said, pleased at this smooth breakthrough.
After a few minutes,
*Crack*
*Crack*
The sound of bones crackling could be heard in the room as Keith's facial expressions distorted due to the intense pain.
At this moment, Keith was somehow able to 'see' his bones, tendons and even some of his muscles were becoming denser, slowly, but steadily.
He felt a light mist being released from his entire skeletal structure and was being stored in an empty area around his gut.
*buzz*
Keith heard a faint buzz in his head and felt something run down his nose, causing him to be a little worried, 'Did I make a mistake?' He wondered.
'Once the brealthrough has been complete. Now regulate your breath and stablize the vital force, otherwise, you may even cough up blood'
Keith recalled what Gerrad had told him and slowly regulated his breath.
"Nessa, now that your brother's breakthrough is complete, tell me what was the most important point in this process." Gerrad looked over at Nessa who was sitting beside him.
"..." Nessa pondered for a while and finally said, "It seems that most critical point is when the vital force has awakend, if one delays the stablizing process even by a little, then it could be life threatening." Nessa explained. This explaination made Gerrad reveal a smile.
The entire purpose of having her here was to show her how a small mistake could be dangerous. Althogh he had already told both of them the process of breathrough in great detail, but seeing the process by oneself gave others a deeper understanding.
"Now, you know that cultivation of this techbique can be done at a faster rate if one used certain resources like crystal pine..."
*Cough* *Cough*
Gerrad coughed, and continued coughing.
"Father!" Soon, Nessa got a little worried and placed her hand on his back.
"Owh..." Gerrad coughed up a mouthful of blood and soon, his coughing fit ended.
'My condition is getting worse, huh.'
...
Just like this, time passed,
Gerrad's worsening condition had made him quite irritable, and all he would tell Keith and Nessa was to cultivate and keep cultivating.
Although the sibling duo didn't say anything, it slowly dawned on them that their father didn't have much time left.
This pushed them to become cultivation maniacs.
In a few months, Nessa also brokethrough to the second layer of the technique while Keith observed his skin, bones and tendons becoming as hard as any steel he had ever come across in his short life.
The effects of vital force were amazing to say the least, it constantly rid his body of all the impurities he had.
With time, his vitality kept increasing, however, on the other hand, his father's condition only worsend and could not even leave his bed nowadays.
At night, he would wake up from constant nightmares, completely soaked in sweat. But when Keith and Nessa asked what was the nightmare, they didn't get an answer but silence.
Today, Gerrad had called the sibling duo in his room to talk about something.
The sibling duo sat infront of their bedridden father.
"Nessa, Keith, I have to tell you something...I might not live for abother week. And so, there are some things that I want you to do."
"What!" The duo exclaimed in unison. Right now, they were feeling a myriad of emotions welling up within them.
"Once I die, leave the village and never return, there is a king whom I want you to kill, all information about it is stored in the basement." Gerrad said with a serious expression.
"Why?" Nessa asked, she had lived here ever since she was born, and so naturally, she didn't want to leave unless absolutely necessary.
"It..." Gerrad was at a loss for words. For the past couple of months, he had been getting nightmares about his children being killed by the members of the royal family. At first, he thought that it was simply a nightmare, but with time, it became more frequent as well as more vivid.
"I want you to be safe...so if it feels too dangerous, then simply run far away and live your lives ." Gerrad said with a despondent look in his eyes. He had already lost his family in the past, he didn't something like that to happen again, even if he wasn't there to witness it.
"..." The sibling duo remained silent. They fell completely speechless.