Mystical Journey

"Since the inception of martial arts, I must be the first one that has trained multiple secret methods at once . A secret method would at least take a couple of years to train and master . The secret method is also martial arts which means that without practice its power would deteriorate due to loss of familiarity . It’s similar to going against the tide . Without a day of practice, three days of effort may go to waste . Without my special ability that can consolidate and reinforce the training results, it would be impossible to train other secret methods .

"The body’s adaptability is like this . "

He raised his head and scanned the roof’s edge and the starry night . A bright crest hung in the night’s sky as the moon cast a veil with its light .

"It would be better if I don’t go home now, in case something happens in the near future, and my family will be worried . " Garen made up his mind to stay at the dojo .

The news of his return didn’t leak out as only a few select individuals knew about it .

He gently let out a sigh .

The hallway in front of the Dojo’s library was pitch black and silent .

He strolled along the hallway . He had only taken a few steps when he saw a shadow sitting by the right wall .

He walked closer to take a better look .

"Grace?" Garen was surprised by her presence .

The shadow was Grace in a professional office assistant attire . Her graceful legs were covered by a thick layer of stockings and closed together . She was curled into a ball as if she was in a chilling weather .

She subconsciously opened her eyes when she heard the voice and looked at Garen in front of her .

"Garen you are done . " Weakness transmitted through her voice . She tried to stand up, but her legs were sore . She lost balance and almost fell .

Garen caught her still in the air, feeling the fragility of her body . It was burning .

Grace grasped onto his body with force .

"Why are you waiting here?" Garen asked gently . "Manuyllton Corporation’s intelligence gathering is impressive . I just got back, and you already know . When did you come here?"

"Afternoon…" Grace’s voice dimmed, and she sounded frailer .

Garen reached a hand to touch her forehead . It was burning .

"You have a fever . There are doctors and nurses with the master . I’ll take you there for a checkup . It shouldn’t be a big problem . "

He lifted her by the waist and strode to the room where his master rested .

The dojo was silent . There was no indication of any light, either . The massive dojo appeared hollow and void .

It was a short walk before they reached the room at the corner . A nurse was carrying a bucket of water from the room .

The dim yellow light slipped out past the edge of the door . Simon’s silhouette was dozing off beside the bed .

Garen carried Grace and with a lowered voice asked,"Ms . Nurse, could you please find some cold and fever medicine for my friend?"

"No problem . " The nurse was an ordinary girl with small freckles on her face, and she agreed without hesitation . "But don’t bring her into the room . The patient in there has not yet recovered, and he may catch a cold . "

"Okay . "

"Put me down!" Grace began to resist Garen's hand . Her legs kicked, and her face had a vivid redness to it from the fever, which confused her senses .

Garen shook his head speechlessly as he waited for a while at the door . The nurse he spoke to found another one to arrange a room for Grace . Only then, could Garen find some time and walk into his master’s room .

Simon drooled as he had fallen asleep with his head slanted to the side against the back of the chair .

Garen gently closed the door, but the sound was low enough that it didn’t even wake him up . He walked over and tapped on his shoulder .

"Wooo . " Simon slurped up the drool in a hurry . "Se… Senior brother!" When he saw Garen walk in, he was shocked and hastily stood up .

"Your arm is still in a cast, why are you not getting any rest? Go back to your room and sleep!" Garen told him with a stern face while trying to keep his voice steady .

"But the dojo master…" Simon wavered .

"I’ll be here," Garen said . "Master hasn't woken up yet?"

Simon’s face dimmed . "No, not even once . He has been like this since we returned from the Celestial Circle Gate . "

"He wasn’t injuried that seriously, what’s going on?" Garen frowned with his eyerbows raised .

"I don’t know, the doctor said that the dojo master’s body is fine . They just don’t know why he is unconscious," Simon replied with an undertone . "The dojo master is going to be okay, right? Senior Brother?" A worrisome expression appeared on his face .

"It’s going to be okay, I am here, right?" Garen patted his shoulder . "Go rest now, I’ll take care of him . "

"I have only been here for a bit, Collin was here before . " Simon laughed feeling a little embarrassed .

"To be fair, you don’t have to stay here with me," Garen suddenly said . "You are just regular trainees . "

"You don’t have to say that! Senior Brother, we have already made up our minds, and we are going to stay at the dojo . Regardless of the results, the dojo has given us too much . This is Collin and I's choice . Carrie is different from us because she still has her parents and brother, so we convinced her to go back . Senior Brother, you won’t blame us for this decision, right?" Simon calmed as he expressed his thoughts .

"Of course not . " Garen didn’t know what was the best thing to say at such a moment . "You guys don’t have to do this much . "

"Don’t worry, Senior Brother . " Simon smiled . "Collin and I are free from worry . It’s the dojo master that has taught us everything . I’ll go back and rest now, the master will depend on you now . "

"Mhmm, you can go back . " Garen nodded .

He watched Simon slowly left the room and closed the door .

Garen was deep in thought .

Compared to Senior Sister Rosetta, the normal core students were more like master Fei Baiyun’s disciples . During the dojo’s crisis, they didn't choose to leave but instead stayed with the dojo to fight together .

It was in critical times like this, when the dojo had almost fallen apart, that trust could be garnered .

Garen silently sat on the chair Simon had used and looked at the master lying in bed .

"Master, although the dojo is facing the most difficult situation since its inception, there are still some disciples that are worth fighting for and protecting . This is your luck, and our luck . "

Despite being here for only one year, he felt a blood connection with Fei Baiyun who had taught him everything he knew . Fei Baiyun spent all his effort to provide him with the best route for growth . Even with Manuyllton Corporation’s incident, he personally stepped in to solve the issue for him .

This time only Grace came . The bodyguards and Cynthia were all gone without a trace . The Corporation had clearly seen that the tide had turned and recalled them . When a ship is sinking, this is the obvious choice .

"If we can go through this crisis together, you shouldn’t disagree with Collin and Simon becoming real disciples, right?" This was his last sentence before letting out a long sigh and closing his eyes to rest .

Fei Baiyun was still sleeping in bed with faint hints breathing . Maybe he had heard what Garen had said, maybe not .

********************

Due to the secret methods’ teaching rules, only disciples could learn .

Fei Baiyun had already announced that he would not teach any disciples . So Garen decided to teach himself . The best candidate was second senior brother Farak, but he was out there trying to assassinate senior sister Rosetta without any information .

Although he was confident in second senior brother’s abilities, Garen was afraid that external forces would be involved .

For the longest time, the difference between the second senior brother and senior sister was minuscule at best . But he had been going easy on her as his force was too explosive without constraint . Thus, he would often lose against Rosetta . It would be different in a life and death situation .

Fights between martial adepts of the same level were also dependent on the feeling that day .

He sat in the master’s room almost until the next morning . Only when a new nurse was about to come in to switch in, did Garen finally leave to train the secret methods .

He walked around the dojo and gained a better understanding of the situation .

Due to the riots in the gate, the majority of the core disciples had left . The lower level students were sent home on vacation . The sub-gates only had people to look after the door . Collin and Simon were the only ones left in the gate .

Only the core disciples knew the crisis the gate was facing . The majority of other students were not aware of the situation . Based on dojo master Fei Baiyun’s reputation, most of them thought that everything would be normal after some time passed . They didn’t know how severe the situation was .

The dojo that had been once filled with over a thousand people now only had less than ten remaining .

Not including Garen, Collin and Simon, only a few workers that had been here for years stayed .

Garen strolled into the dojo while the passing rooms and hallways spoke of the emptiness of the once prosperous White Cloud Gate . Only desolate air and marks of prosperity remained .

Garen left the dojo and ate breakfast at a store nearby . He then ordered some food for the people remaining and asked for it to be delivered to the dojo . He then returned to the Martial Coliseum on the second floor, where he started to train The Iron Body secret method . It only required one more level which needed an external force to aid the training .

The Martial Coliseum had a small room with heavy iron balls hanging from the ceiling . They were meant to train against hard hits .

This was because the White Cloud Gate’s basic Explosive Fist required this condition .

He stood without any robes in the middle of tens of iron balls . They were the size of a human head, and Garen even added spikes on top of them .

The dense iron balls were like urchins that surrounded Garen in the middle .

He inhaled and exhaled before starting to follow the Iron Body’s breathing method .

After a complete cycle, he began furiously pushing the iron balls around him .

Dang! Dang! Dang!

The sound of collision echoed within the room .

Following immediately after, were the sounds of spikes hitting against Garen . The clanking noise rang like metal impacting another piece of metal .

Garen’s skin began to darken to a black color, at the same time as it gained a metallic sheen .

The countless metal balls swung in the room and collided with his body . They would then get pushed back from the force of his body and come back even stronger .

Every metal ball weighed more than ten pounds . With the added force, the force of the collision was at least over 100 pounds . The spikes made the area of collision decrease, which meant that the force Garen’s body received drastically increased .

He only felt a tingling sensation that made him want to scratch the place hit . But he knew this was normal .

He practiced until noon before taking a break to eat . Eat, rest, train . Eat, rest, train . He repeated the same routine again, and again, and again .