The Blood King

Under his robes, his muscles tensed and squirmed.

" Fuuu." His eyes sprang open, s.h.i.+ning as he exhaled.

"...But practicing it would require having a sword." He said.

The disciples weren"t allowed to walk around with weapons for obvious reasons.

" Uhhh..." He stared blankly.

" !" He went to the side of the room.

" Not this, not that...Achoo!" Things were s.h.i.+fted and tossed.

" This could work." He weighed a short wooden pole.

" It"s light, but I"ll make do with it for now. Next time I can bring my sword in secret." He mumbled.

" First of all, the motions." He s.h.i.+fted his feet.

Woos.h.!.+

" Nnn...That wasn"t it." He adjusted his stance.

Vwoos.h.!.+

"..." He brought his legs closer together, gripping the pole with both hands. He then swung it down.

" That"s it!" He said. From the sound of the swing, he could affirm that it was done correctly.

" And angular slas.h.!.+" His foot slapped the floor as he swung.

" Horizontal!" Stepping back, he lifted one arm while slas.h.i.+ng across with the other.

"..." He repeated these basic movements, unconsciously closing his eyes.

From his roused imagination, an opponent appeared before him.
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" Haa!" A man thrust his sword toward Levi"s head.

" !!" Levi c.o.c.ked his neck as blood squirted from his face.

" Humph!" The man turned his wrist as he swept his sword toward Levi"s neck.

" Huff!" Levi stepped back, leaving the sword"s range.

The man stepped in without waiting for him to breathe. His foot slammed against the floor as he swung down.

Beads of sweat trickled as Levi blocked.

s.h.i.+ng!

With a tilt of Levi"s blade, the swords slid.

He raised his leg, slamming it into the man"s arm, causing him to stumble.

Levi one-handedly swung his sword, intending to lop his opponent"s head off.

Clang!

The man parried his attack as Levi"s sword was knocked away.

" Stubborn b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Levi thought.

The man then thrust his sword at Levi"s chest.

Levi took a step back, bending his frame as he swung his sword. He incorporated the horizontal slash into his strike.

He swung it with precision as the tip of his sword pushed the man"s sword to the side.

Woos.h.!.+

The thrust flashed past his side as he changed his stance. He switched his legs while cleaving down at an angle with both arms.

" Got you!" He thought.

The man turned his wrist, before slamming his hilt into Levi"s ribs.

" Oaf!" He stumbled to the side.

The man changed his stance. With his sword aligned with his back leg, he swept it upward.

" Dangerous!" Levi went all out.

Thud!

His back hit the wall.

" Huff! Huff!" He slid down.

" That, ha, was fun, haha..." He wiped some sweat.

The wooden pole was no longer cleanly cut but instead had a rough and worn chipped point.

" Did I make too much noise...?" He observed. All across the room were scratches and indents. There were also fragments from the pole on the floor.

" Y-You..." A voice sounded.

"..." Levi"s attention s.h.i.+fted.

"...You saw?" This was the man who brought him to the room, the librarian.

" Whwhat were you just doing..." The man gulped.

" It was-It was like...You..." He said.

" Why are you in the inscription department? With this level of talent, you could have gotten into the cultivation department!" The man said.

" How long have you been here? It"s not too late..." He said.

" I"m guessing no one heard me aside from him, then." Levi concluded.

" I"ll get in trouble for the manuals, but if I make a recommendation, you can still get in..." The man paced.

" You-" He suddenly stopped.

"...I"m sorry," Levi felt something foreign.

"..." The man froze.

" It looks like you have good intentions... I think..." Levi"s tone questioned.

" But, I can"t let people know about certain things." A sigh pa.s.sed his lips.

"..." The man"s eyes lacked moisture.

"..." Levi kept silent for a few minutes.

" You...If I let you go, will you keep quiet about this?" He stood.

"..." The man didn"t speak. It wasn"t that he didn"t answer, but that he couldn"t move. Not a single limb of his, at this moment, was his to command.

" Right...You can"t move...What was I thinking." Levi lowered his eyes.

"...What are you doing?" The demon saint asked.

" Nothing..." Levi said.

" Demon saint, I want you to deal with this." Levi thought.

" Why not do it yourself? Do you feel sympathy for him?" The demon saint asked.

"...Is it wrong for me to want to trust someone?" Levi muttered.

" Haha, I want to, but I know I can"t." He shook his head.

" Just do it. Make sure to use the method that would negatively affect him the least." Levi reminded.

He didn"t feel indebted to the man. It was more like he felt "thought of" or "cared for".

Even after being threatened, this man"s first thought after witnessing his performance was to help him. At the expense of himself, even.

And while he somewhat tried to push his dream of getting into the cultivation department onto him, it all stemmed from his will to do good.

Levi had not experienced this kind of selflessness before, thus, it greatly shook him.

" There are people like this? People I can put my trust in? Will I just be disappointed in the end?" Were questions he had yet to answer.

" Hey, stop wasting time and release your mental energy. While his cultivation is not high, that doesn"t mean that my meager mental energy would be enough to alter his mind." The demon saint said.

" And you ought to keep in that you won"t be able to freeze him for much longer." He said.

" Oh, I understand." Levi said.

A black flame crowned with a golden tip danced before his forehead.

"...Thanks, but I still have to be alone. At this point, trusting someone is not something I"m brave enough to do." Levi thought.

" But...I"ll remember you. Even after you forget." He said through gritted teeth.

...

A few minutes later.

" Sigh, it"s time to practice the actual skill now." Levi exhaled.

The librarian was released after having his memories sealed.

"..." Levi stood in an attack stance.

He swung the rod around like before.

Gradually, Qi seeped from his body. As a result of his movements, currents were formed.

Waves rolled from his upper torso to his hands and from his waist to his feet.

"...Am I doing this wrong?" He stopped.

" Demon saint, how do you tell if you are practicing a skill wrong?" Levi asked.

" Hmm, that"s a tough question." The demon saint said.

" Why? Are the signs too subtle?" Levi asked.

" Not at all, if anything, there are too many signs! And all of them are painful!" The demon saint said.

"..." Levi"s brow rose.

" From stabbing pains to burning veins, to exploding organs. Maybe I exaggerated when I said they were all painful, but most of the time that is the case." The demon saint said.

" Hmm..." Levi hummed.

" Why? Are you experiencing any of these symptoms right now?" The demon saint asked.

" It"s nothing." Levi said.

He started again.

" Tsk." The waves across his body surged as he released more qi.

" What...is this pain?!" It felt as if he was stabbed multiple times. He clutched his arm.

"..." Qi surged as he clenched his teeth.

Boom!

"!" A shock rippled through his body as his knees. .h.i.t the floor.

...

In a bright room.

" Hmm." Sound reverberated.

" Ah, I mistake, mistake! Sigh, maybe I"m getting too old." The scratching of a pen sounded.

" Wha...Where am-Ack." Levi flinched.

" Oh, you"re awake? That"s good. How do you feel?" The old man asked.

"...Who are you, elder?" Levi asked after a moment of silence.

" I"m an old physician. How do you feel?" The old man asked.

" I"m fine," Levi sat up.

He noticed that he was seated on a long white table. To his side was an old man sitting at a desk. The old man scribbled as he threw sheets of paper onto large piles

" Is that so? You should be sore from head to toe, not to mention the searing pain throughout your body, but it"s good that you"re fine. You can leave then." The old man drew out a drawer.

" I can handle the pain," Levi said.

" You"re still here? A busy student, huh." The old man said.

" What do you mean, elder?" Levi asked.

" You were here just a few days ago with Yuri, did you forget? Oh, you were unconscious that time, huh." The old man recalled.

" But how did I get here again! I was..." Levi trailed off.

" I was practicing that skill! Now that I think of it, what was that pain?" Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

" The Inscription Department"s librarian brought you. Said you collapsed after wreaking the place." The old man said.

" Was it bad? Did anyone see me?" Levi thought.

" I sealed specific memories, so the librarian guy should have taken care of it sufficiently." The demon saint said.

" Ok." Levi nodded.

" Elder, I want to ask a question. When practicing a skill, is it normal to feel pain all over?" Levi asked.

" Then let me ask you, have you ever been wounded deeply? Anything below skin level." The old man asked.

" Yes, things like being stabbed or beaten was normal where I came from. Plus..." He recalled his bloodline issue.

" But what does that have to do with my question?" Levi asked.

" Hmm, do you know how qi travels throughout the body?" The old man asked.

" The meridians?" Levi answered.

" Well, you"re not wrong, but I"m talking about something else right now." The old man turned around.

" Please." Levi lowered his head in a bow.

" What I"m speaking of are called Qi Channels. You are from the inscription department, so you should have a grasp of what they are, yes?" The old man asked.

" Anyway, Qi channels enable you to control and release of Qi from the body, making them essential for cultivators." He said.

" What are you trying to say, elder? I don"t understand. Qi channels channel qi, am I missing something?" Levi asked.

" Cheeky brat, watch your tone. Don"t think I don"t know you were practicing some technique you weren"t supposed to be. But I don"t care about that, so don"t give me a reason to." The old man clicked his tongue.

" Continuing, when did you start feeling pain?" He asked.

"...After releasing my qi while practicing the skill." Levi said.

" Technique. It only becomes a skill when you have mastered it." The old man said.

"...Yes." Levi nodded.

" You"re not getting it, hmm?" The old man asked.

" ???" Levi got more confused as time pa.s.sed.

" Alright, alright. Let me explain. Qi channels are fragile vein-like structures throughout the body. If you are injured and do not heal properly, they can be permanently damaged." The old man said.

" They are what allows us to use of intricate techniques, as their main function is enabling you to use Qi with precision." He said.

"..." Levi nodded at every point.

" You just said that you were injured before. How many times?" The old man asked.

" Um, I don"t know?" Levi said.

" Then, were the wounds infected? Or were they healed at a rapid pace?" The old man asked.

"..." Levi"s expression became strange.

" If they were infected, that would interrupt the healing process, potentially damaging the channels. If the wounds were rapidly healed, then the body might not have been able to properly reform those channels, effectively blocking them off." The old man said.

" You...You can"t mean..." Levi"s face paled.

"...Didn"t I say it earlier? Qi channels give you precise control of Qi, in turn allowing you to use Qi techniques that require careful, subtle control." The old man said.

" If some of them were damaged or blocked, every time you tried to do such things, it would be like ripping yourself apart from the inside." He said.

" What would happen if a vein was clogged? There"s a chance it would burst, but the fact is that it would hurt. It"s the same with qi channels." He said.

" And if you felt pain every time you used a skill, it would always throw you off, breaking your focus." He said.

"...Ha, but I can use qi without feeling pain, see?" A ball of blue qi sat in Levi"s palm.

" That? Humph, isn"t that because you"re using your primordial meridians? And even without them, as long as you weren"t using a technique, anyone would be able to do that much." The old man said.

"..." Levi"s eyes widened.

" What?!"