Ever since I found that man, I have been visiting him regularly. It's been about two weeks since he recovered. He has been staying around Miedzy Cave and has never visited the village. In my bag, I had a loaf of bread, some vegetables, fish, and nuts.
He was a peculiar man, with unusual mannerisms. There might have been a cultural barrier between our two continents. For instance, I offered him a fork and knife, but he discarded them in favor of a pair of sticks. I wasn't offended or surprised by his choice, but rather amazed at how skillfully he could eat with those pair of sticks.
I couldn't understand his language, but luckily, he understood a little bit of what I was saying, but only the necessities. Maybe he visited the kingdom of Erlösung before? Who knows?
Upon arriving in the mountains, I witnessed a man doing push-ups with a large boulder on his back. This extreme workout might surprise or impress others, but not me. As I mentioned before, the Júzi rén (Tangerine People) are known for their godly bodies. They possess inhuman strength and are blessed with exceptional hand-to-hand combat abilities.
Seeing me, the old man stopped what he was doing, before giving me a jolly smile. Yes, this old man was weird indeed. Sitting down on a large rock, I just watched the man eat his food gracefully with the utensils, known as chopsticks.
As I watched the man eat, he offered me some of the food I had brought him. I waved my hand to decline his kind offer, but he insisted. Eventually, I picked up a piece of bread and shared a meal with the foreign man. At first, my mother and Hwa were suspicious of me, so I made up an excuse that I was working extra hours for Mr. Earnbile. Well, I guess it wasn't an excuse, considering I always found something interesting about this cave.
I came across some strange symbols inside the cave entrance. Even though I knew I shouldn't go in, the fact that the mysterious man wasn't harmed made me curious. Carved into the stone wall were depictions of a large beast that looked like a dragon in the center of the picture. One side was light and the other side was dark.
How strange.
The next day, I couldn't see the man because I was training with Hwa and her grandfather, the village chief. I am now changing into the training Gi that the chief provided me. Everyone in this village must know how to fight, and hunt, and even a stray like me was no exception.
Today, I'm going to attempt to learn how to perform Sen-Shēntǐ. Initially, I was confused because I thought only Júzi rén (Tangerine People) with their unique bodies could do it. It turns out I was partly right and partly wrong. Due to their unique bodies, different from normal humans, they can use their abilities effectively without any problems. However, when a normal human tries to do Sen-Shēntǐ, it puts a lot of stress on the body and can even be deadly. The human body was not meant to handle so much energy.
"OK Alonne, today you're learning how to channel Sen-Shēntǐ. It might be true that you aren't from our clan, but I believe you should be able to accumulate small bursts of Sen-Shēntǐ( nature energy)," explained the chief.
"But Elder, I'm not a part of your clan, so I don't think I can use it. And to be honest, I'm afraid even to try," I said anxiously. The Elder put one of his hands on the right side of my shoulder.
"Yes, Alonne, I understand your doubts. You need not worry; we are only using small bursts of it. It will do no harm to your body or even affect you. But before we start, let me explain about Nodes," said the Elder.
Confused about that, I was about to ask the Elder what Nodes were, but Hwa beat me to it. "Gramps! What are Nodes?!" asked the rambunctious girl. Slamming his cane right on her head, the elder scolds Hwa.
"Weren't you listening, Hwa? How many times must I explain this to you? Nodes are essential for a martial artist, especially for our clan. Nodes are pathways in the human body that essentially dictate how powerful a martial artist can be. A regular, average person is born with 50-100 Nodes in their body. This is another reason why normal humans cannot manifest or control Sen-Shēntǐ, due to the high amount of Nodes required to channel Sen-Shēntǐ (natural energy). In some rare circumstances, a miracle occurs when a normal person is able to draw out the natural energy. However, due to how taxing Sen-Shēntǐ is on a normal individual's body, it could cause massive strain on the body, or worse, fatally end the user's life," explained the Elder.
Curious, I ask the Elder how many nodes his clan has. "Elder-San, how many nodes do you and your clansmen have?" I asked.
"Typically around 500, but outside of our generation, there is always someone who exceeds those expectations. For example, Asuhra has about 700-750 nodes. He is the first person in our clan to have that many nodes." stated the Elder with a little pride in his voice.
Hwa had sparkled in her eyes. She always admired Ashura, heck, he was the main reason why she wanted to become a fighter in the first place.
"Incredible," I muttered. The story about Ashura was true. At that time, I still believed his feats were over-exaggerated... No, this man was truly a monster. Someone that you should fear, especially if you were his enemy.
His monstrous strength will cause an entire battlefield to tremble. The seas will bend to his will. Ashura, the conqueror, the captain of wrath; even the gods cower in fear at the sound of his name.
The gods bestowed upon him a body of steel, hands as fast as lightning, and feet as quick as an elk.
Ashura the wrathful