Chapter 82: Training Begins (2/2)
Arion chuckled and said, ”You think too highly of yourself. As you said, we will see who makes it out of the Ironheart test first. You still have to go through the first trial, unlike me.”
And just as he walked out of the house, he saw Old Zi in a meditative pose before the Tree of Solace.
”Hmph, at least I am not taking any backdoor to skip my way to victory,” Shun indignantly said.
”Shh, shut your big mouth. Master is meditating,” Arion warned as he saw that Old Zi seemed to be quite deep in mediation.
He and Shun sat near Old Zi and decided to wait for him to open his eyes.
In the meantime, Arion decided to check by how much his Defity had increased again,
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Defity: Prana Binding Stage [ 10th Cycle - 35,021/ 1,048,576]
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'Hmm, still a long way to go but good progress indeed,' Arion thought to himself as he had asked Yaro to include some of the pranic herbs he received as gifts in his food.
Old Zi finally opened his eyes and looked at both Arion and Shun waiting for him, ”Good, you two are up early. Now, close your eyes and focus on the prana flowing through your heart.”
Arion closed his eyes as his senses began to concentrate on his heart.
”Now imagine the prana in your heart flowing out through your blood to every single part of your body, enriching whatever it touches, strengthening whatever it passes through.”
Arion felt a relaxing sensation as if his whole body was undergoing a spa treatment from the inside and felt like his mind was dissolving in this cool and refreshing feeling.
He could hear the chirping of birds perched on the branches of the tree, the sound of the wind softly whistling across the hills, and most of all, how the prana flowing through his body seemed to be in sync with the prana in the air.
Arion could feel that he now got a better understanding of the prana in his heart and the small difference he felt in his body because of meditating like this.
He simply decided to check his Defity to confirm his doubts,
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Defity: Prana Binding Stage [ 10th Cycle - 35,561/ 1,048,576]
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And just as he thought, his Defity had increased though only slightly. But this was more than what he expected he would gain by meditating for such a short time.
Now he understood how Old Zi's meditation technique coupled with mediating in such a place with tranquil air could benefit his Defity.
”Now open your eyes and stand up,” Old Zi said as he got up.
He then took a stance with his legs apart and back straight as he said, ”Now observe closely whatever movements I am going to do. This is a pranic flow technique that could improve the flow of your prana through your body, making it faster. The changes might not be apparent now since the pranic force in your body is only present in a minute amount. But the day the pranic force increases in your body, this will give you a headstart in many things.”
Arion and Shun nodded as their gazes narrowed, carefully observing the strange movements Old Zi was doing with his hands while moving his legs at the same time.
With Old Zi's guidance, Arion and Shun began to copy Old Zi's movements, and soon they got the hang of it as they memorized the technique.
Soon, after an hour, Old Zi told them to stop and said, ”Now coming to one of the main agendas of our training, we would be focusing on close combat now. So, follow me.”
Arion got excited that it was time for his favorite part of the training since he badly wanted to learn how to fight Dreadlings at close range.
The two followed Old Zi to the back of his house, where there was a stand with lots of weapons arranged in order.
”Now, which weapons are you two comfortable with?” Old Zi asked as he gestured towards the weapon stand.