Surviving In My Novel

Jack sat down on a garden bench, tired and worried. He had been looking all over the palace for the last hour but he could not find any sign of Simon. He even tried checking Simon"s study but he did not show up.

"This is all too unnatural." Jack lamented in his mind. 

Tyrone, who was sitting beside him, was eating away at a bag of chips. After a hard and long day of training, Tyrone found himself back in the refurbished gardens. Everything had been replaced again, yet nothing had changed. He silently admired the lush greenery before turning back to Jack.

"I haven"t seen master since yesterday, I can"t give you any insight." Tyrone replied.

"Did he go out on a trip without telling us? If so, where did he go? I want to follow him wherever he chooses to go. I will stand beside him in the future, that is my pride as his disciple. However, I cannot do that if I don"t know where he is…"

"Jack, relax. Master has left us plenty of instructions, enough to last us a month. When we are finished, we can go look. Until then, we follow his instructions to the letter. That is my pride as his disciple" Tyrone sighed. He knew that Jack was worried, but he himself did not have any ember of worry in him. Tyrone trusted that Simon would not leave without a good reason, he also trusted in Simon"s instructions.

Do what must be done before doing anything else.

"Touché" Jack backed off.

"Fine, I will go back to training. But in one month, we are going to look for master if he doesn"t show up."

In the training room, a week later:

CLANG

"James, your sword is getting much better. You can find so many weaknesses in my stance and take advantage of every single one. I bet you are at the 45th layer at least." Mu complimented James out of respect. It was not common to find such a talented individual. James has trained his Darkness Sword very well, enough to shock Mu in submission. 

Mu felt rather winded after his sparring session, so he could only find a wall and slid down it until he landed flat on his behind.

"Thanks for the compliment, Mu. Are you alright though? Do you need me to get some water for you?" James easily noticed Mu"s loss of stamina, quickly asking if the latter needed a.s.sistance.

As the MC or ML of the novel, James was of good nature. Therefore, things like this, he would do out of the kindness of his heart. That did not stop him from building a huge harem and disappointing all of the harem members at the end of the novel. As such, he could be considered a kind d.i.c.k.

More like a kind person that thinks with his d.i.c.k.

"Ah, I"m fine. I just need to catch my breath for now. I can"t lose my intensity just yet, James." Mu seemed rather under pressure.

"What"s wrong, Mu?"

"Haven"t you heard? The mistress has started spreading word that Master had to leave early because of important matters. That is why he"s been absent. Since Master was not available, we did not do the ceremony. Thus, we have to train harder to make up for it."

"I certainly will not disappoint him. I will train until I die. That is my resolve as his disciple." Mu got back up with an iron will and drew his word again.

"James, let"s do this!"

In the forest that surrounded the palace, the YuLuShu brothers had begun what seemed to be a barbaric sparring match. After being given the most pitiful looking techniques, the three brothers worked hard despite the unfairness. They were rewarded in the end, becoming the most genius disciples and easily surpa.s.sing their peers. Their misfortune became their treasure.

"Shu, I know that you have long surpa.s.sed the 100th layer of your technique. But today, I will defeat you and claim the seat of most genius disciple of master!" Lu grasped a pair of chopsticks and flicked them towards Shu.

SHA SHA

The chopsticks divided into hundreds upon hundreds of similar sized chopsticks, like birdshot approaching wel… a bird.

POOF

The chopstick were instantly blocked by a spectral flip flop and dissipated into nothingness.

"Lu, you"d better bring you "A Game" if you want to beat me." Shu sent a descending flip flop unto Lu, forcing the latter to retreat a few hundred steps.

BOOM

Hundreds of trees had disintegrated into ash just like that, painting the forest in a cloud of ash and vapours.

"You forgot about someone!"

Yu jumped from a tree and slammed his pillow at Shu"s behind, sending the latter flying in the direction he had slapped.

"That is not enough to beat me." Shu stopped his momentum in the air, leaving himself floating on nothingness.

"You have both achieved the 150th layer of your techniques, but I have achieved the 300th."

"Upon doing so, I must break through."

"The mastery of the technique will now bring me towards the 4th rank of Magician!"

"..."

"Shu, we give up. Just break through already."

Alas, Shu had reached a height that would be unthinkable for other humans. The 4th rank of magician would be enough for him to be considered an almighty being in some places. He could even single-handedly defeat the entirety of Haven should he want to.

However, Shu desired attention from his master and Lenn much more. Simon had taught him everything he knew and Lenn had encouraged him to not feel pity for himself and instead become a genius of unparalleled skills.

Lu and Yu have also gradually become much more genius in their feats. Because of their fierce compet.i.tion as brothers, they had developed tactics for almost every situation. They needed to be at their very best if they wanted to prove themselves alongside Shu. They could not just live in his shadow and not contribute.

"We three brother will bear the responsibility of spreading master"s glory in the new land! We will lead our fellow disciples towards the glory of master! To do this, we must become stronger. Much stronger."

"Never give up on your training, no matter what."

Other side of the forest:

"The void is one with me and the void is my sword. The sword bring void and I consume. One with the void, one with the sword." Jack repeated these words as if he was reciting a vow. In the past week, he had done nothing but swing his sword and recite these words.

He had been fallen behind his peers by a great margin. Tyrone had already made it to the 60th layer of the Blossom Sword Technique and the YuLuShu brothers were of a completely different caliber. In fact, just thinking about their supernatural talents could make a disciple fall into a lapse of depression.

But Jack never stopped practicing, even if he made no progress.

"Master trusts me enough to have placed this technique in front of me. He knew that this technique would be hard, but he trusted in my will. If I cannot learn this technique, then I am not trying hard enough."

"When I was alone, Master came and took me under his wing. Even if it was merely half a year ago, this half a year has been the best time of my life. I will thank Master by reaching an unprecedented height. Even if I lack the talent, I will learn this technique wholeheartedly. I will gather myself into the void and become the void. I will make master proud!"

BOOOOM

An explosion of energy pulsed through Jack"s veins as he swung his sword one last time.

"AAAAARRRGH!"

"I am one with the void!"

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

The earth started quaking from beneath him, shaking the very surface he was standing on. 

Energy continued to enter his body and refine itself throughout the quakes. With each rumble, Jack felt like he was becoming stronger. The void within him had become endless.

The endless void had formed from within him and had begun gathering energy from the environment. At that very moment, Jack realised why Simon had asked him to practice this technique.

"My void sword is endless, my consumption has no limits."

Jack quickly began to realise that his technique was progressing in layers so quickly that he could no longer keep track. Because of the void, he had grown so quickly that he could no longer progress. If he wanted to progress further, he would need much stronger foundations.

Even so, he was willing to wait. A moment is a moment, but he wished to be eternal.