The water was still whirling as Renji sat cross-legged beside it. He held a Direct Chisel in one hand and a rock, about palm-sized, in the other. "Start from the fundamentals. I shall start with this small rock as I start my training…" Renji sat alone, embedded in the mountains behind Keito Institute. He was to train in the art of stonesculpting, under Kaiya Tanaka. The more he worked with this craft, the more Renji himself also came to understand why, in the later stages, the Direct Chisel School contributed to improving one's spirit essence.
When others were carving, they had to utilize many tools. They wasted a lot of time and mental effort just thinking about which tools to use and where. Naturally, this is tiring. That each work of art there represented their blood and painstaking effort. But the Direct chisel School is different. The only tool used was Direct Chisel, there was no need to consider which tool to use for what. Due to that, of course, the difficulty level were highly increased. A good example is the employment of the Direct Chisel to carve parts that the jade bowl knife would be employed to carve. This necessitated the level of precision and knowledge on the basic form of a stone that had to be applied. It also necessitated strong strength in order to use the Direct Chisel. If anyone wanted to use just a Direct Chisel a one bigger piece that would require a saw to cut through, one would equally need to have adequate strength. One might draw upon an earth-style magus' characteristic bond with the earth to perceive the essence of a stone. But one still had to train the wrist strength. Renji's wrist strength was capable enough for a magus of the second rank, but only for carvings of smaller sizes. To deal with larger stones, Renji's wrist strength had to be enhanced to be tremendously higher.
When school ended, Renji went home to Dragonspire Village. After the New Year, little Kenji would have been left with only a few days with big brother Renji before setting off, following Housekeeper Haruto northward—to the direction of the Stormcrest Empire. Renji had no choice but to watch little Kenji leave with disappointment. Six-year-old Kenji, crying ceaselessly, said farewell to ten-year-old Renji and left. Time went by, and Renji kept on being an outcast at the Keito Institute, most of his days spent in grueling training in the back mountains. When he reached his teenage years, Renji's appetite turned into something like a hungry horse's, and he shot up in height. Of course, his physical strength and musculature rapidly increased also. In the art of stonesculping, Renji was getting better every day with the help of Kaiya Tanaka and continued hard work.
Spring passed, summer arrived: flowers bloomed and withered. In the twinkling of an eye, three years had flown by. At the waterfall in the mountains behind the Keito Institute, a waterfall splashed down in torrents and smacked into the deep pool of water. Right by the side of the waterfall, Renji was holding a thirty-centimeter Direct Chisel as he unceasingly chipped at a man-sized block of stone. The Direct Chisel danced, almost in an illusionary manner. Everywhere that chisel went, scraps of stone detached and fell. An embryo of a statue was beginning to take shape from the stone. Morning towards evening, and the statue's form had become clear. Renji's gaze was fixed upon that stone. At this moment, every of his being was focused on the stone, his heart had become one with it. Time passed unnoticeably to Renji in this wonderful feeling. That feeling of being complete in nature caused Renji's lost spiritual energy to regenerate and even grow organically. However, Renji himself didn't notice it, as he continued to wield the Direct Chisel, unceasingly working on the statue. Bits of waste stone chipped away, their removal only making the intensity of every detail more so. As the sun began to set, Renji's chisel came to a stop.
"Whew!" Softly, Renji inhaled and blew away some small excess pieces of the stone. It finally took the form of a statue. Before Renji's eyes, a half-meter-large lively mouse rushed out. At first sight, one would nearly believe this was a real mouse. This caused the small Umbramouse, Echo, to start squeaking madly. From beginning to end, the statue was finished in a single breath!
"That's incredible." Renji himself could only take note that he could now feel a significant boost in his spiritual aroma. A Kaiya Tanaka in white smiled at the side energetically.
"Renji, from today you can hardly manage to make the basic levels. Do you even feel that acute sentiment? But your work can only be said to be a superficial, pseudo-artwork. It is only worthy of being placed in the standard hall at the Yamazaki Institute. I would be humiliated if you showed it off there. Destroy it."
"Isn't it, Grandpa Kaiya?" and on his hand, the Direct Chisel of Renji flashed several times, and the statue now became divided to more than ten pieces now. It was this year that Renji had finally mastered the basics of stonesculpting! And this year, actually, Renji was thirteen years old now!
For one year, day by day, and year by year, day by day, his grasp finally reached the point of mastering the basics of stonesculping. On this day, the speed of improvement of his spiritual energy became exponentially way faster. Renji was nine and a half years old when he had advanced to the rank of magus of the second rank. When he was eleven, a magus of the third rank he became. And, when he was thirteen, he went to the fourth rank. A magus was one of those who found it hard and hard to advance in ranks when it grew in power. In a more logical way, it should take at least three years for Renji to go from the fourth rank to the fifth rank. But in real course of events, in the year 9996 of the Aerthos Calendar, when Renji was fourteen and a half, he reached the fifth rank. He reached this rank in only one and a half years, one and a half faster than his advance to the fourth rank from the third. Ah! This was the benefit of entering the Direct Chisel School!
In the year 9997 of the Aerthos calendar, the seventh year Renji had spent at the Keito Institute, Renji was fifteen years old. Wearing a sky-blue robe, Renji walked on a road within the Keito Institute. On his shoulders, the little Umbramouse, Echo, continued to stand. Although six or seven years had passed, Echo's body hadn't changed in the slightest. By now, Renji was heighted at 1.8 meters and projected an unwaveringly solid and stable aura. Earth and wind elemental essences nourished his body time without end. There was also the contribution of Renji's ceaseless practice, and the benefits from his Dragonfire Warrior background. Renji's class had reached the fourth rank for the now. He has grown strong enough to lift several hundred pounds worth of boulders and crack stones using his fists. His direct, one-hand chisel style of school stone-sculpting study had also kept Renji's spiritual essence making progress since thirteen. Now it was the beginning of year 9997; Renji had entered the fifth-grade class at the Keito Institute, the same grade as the Keito Institute's number one genius, Hikari. It took Hikari three years to advance from the fourth rank to the fifth, but to this point, he still could not go from the fifth to the sixth. Fifteen years old. A fifth-rank Magus.
Both Renji and Hikari could definitely be said to be freaks of nature. But in the minds of the vast majority, Renji was even more of a freak, since from the day he took the ability assessment for the fourth rank, it had taken him only a year and a half to reach the fifth rank. Everyone was caught off guard by the outstanding rate of improvement Renji was showing. Now, Renji was ranked alongside Hikari as one of the publicly acknowledged 'Two Ultimate Geniuses' of the Keito Institute.
"Look at that, over there—it's Renji. Two years ago he was the fourth rank, and last year, he reached the fifth rank—simply stunning. I estimate that in no time Renji will catch up to the sixth rank before Hikari."
"Renji has been following training in the back mountains every day. Recently, I heard even Hikari has started training thoroughly at the back mountains. Most likely, he's being influenced by Renji."
"Very possibly. With the progress Renji shows from day to day, there's a high possibility that he'll overtake Hikari and become the number one genius of the Keito Institute."
Many people on the street started talking about Renji as he passed by. Acknowledged as a genius from the Keito Institute, he was always the subject of discussion wherever he went. The strength of Renji kept increasing, but he remained unwilling to participate in the yearly tournaments.
"Genius?" Renji mocked himself. He had never thought of himself as a genius. His power was from hard daily training. During this six years, he had been as firm as the first day. This, coupled with guidance from Grandpa Kaiya, is what gave birth to his current accomplishments.
"At the moment, it's still less powerful compared to that of Echo's." Renji turned to the direction of his shoulder, and Echo was riding on top. "Echo, how strong a rank have you finally reached?"
"Squeak Squeak." Echo glanced toward Renji with pride and said, "I have no idea as I never fought against the others since long ago, but you are definitely not my match, hehe, proud, and really kiasu inside.".
Totally ignoring the worshipful gazes from bystanders, Renji calmly left Keito Institute by the back gate and entered the mountains, once more beginning his solitary training. Completely ignoring the worshipful gazes of people around him, Renji left Keito Institute by the rear gate and went back into the mountains to engage in his solitary training. Those six years which felt like one passed by successfully. Renji quickly floated through the forests, while the little Umbramouse, Echo, continued to chat with him non-stop through their mental link.
"Boss, when are we gonna go to the Mountain of Magical Monsters to test our strength? You are already a Magus of the fifth rank, you can start testing yourself. And I, Echo, will finally be able to show how incredible my prowess is."
"No rush." The answer Renji gave was really short.
"You're killing me, man. I'm a magical monster, but I haven't been to the Magical Monster Mountain even once. What a disaster!" For half a decade, Echo's articulacy had definitely improved much compared to before.
"Shut up. If you continue complaining, then today I won't help you at all with the meat." As Renji uttered such words, immediately Echo shut his mouth.
After entering the mountains, Kaiya Tanaka appeared next to Renji, watching Renji with a satisfied smile.
"Renji." Kaiya Tanaka suddenly said.
Renji turned his head, smiling at Kaiya Tanaka as they communicate mentally. "Grandpa Kaiya, is there something wrong?"
Kaiya Tanaka showed a satisfied smile. "Based on your last few pieces, I can safely tell you that the thing in stonesculpting has successfully reached the middle threshold."
Renji's eyes shone involuntarily. His Grandpa Kaiya had an eccentric temperament. Anything that could not reach the level of his stringent demand on a masterpiece, without any procrastination, should be obliterated then and there. He said, "if these works of art were to appear in the world, they would lose face for my Direct Chisel School, and lose face for me, an honorable Saint-level Grand Magus."
Thus, Renji had to smash every sculptures he made although they could be sold for some money.
"Had met the quota? Grandpa Kaiya, was that what you are saying…" Renji looked at Kaiya Tanaka in stupor.
Kaiya Tanaka smiled and nodded. "Today, going forward, after you finish one of your chiseling works, you don't actually have to destroy it any longer. They deserve to be kept in this world. And, of course, if you'll want, you can take your works for the Yamazaki Gallery to sell and start designing a name for our Fathers' Chisel School. You might concurrently make some gold for yourself as well.