His body grew leaner as the weeks went by, the thin layer of fat that had been coating his body burned away until only muscle remained. The exercises were challenging and the Unaru Kuma even more so, as the majority of the movements Irusaru taught were meant to be used in conjunction with a Movement technique. This strained his muscles and bones to the breaking point, and his moves were jerky and unrefined.
Irusaru assured him that once he learned a Movement technique of his own, he would be far ahead of those that did not practice without beforehand.
They didn’t use any Essence techniques for the entire first month, instead focusing on building the body. Even when Essence was once again being used, Irusaru made sure that it was only to fill his core and cycle to reduce the strain on his body. Aside from that, he was taught nothing else.
Time and time again he asked how he was supposed to understand Power Essence better if he wasn’t allowed to practice using it, but his teacher was silent on the matter, refusing to answer his questions.
Like this, eight weeks went by in a flash. Geon’s condition only got worse over that time. There were times when he didn’t even know who Roy was, or what he was doing there. Ferry was becoming worried as well. She’d stopped spending her days running around the basin, chasing the wildlife, and had taken to lying curled up near his small house. All Roy could do was hope that when he advanced, Geon would regain some of his senses.
As it was, he was quickly losing hope that he would advance to Yellow-Belt in time. He now only had seven days left to advance, and he already imagined that he could feel his body beginning to break down. He didn’t see any signs, but he was sure that Geon’s estimate hadn’t been off. His worry grew deeper with each day.
Today, Irusaru had him doing something new. Roy sat on a flat piece of stone, right beneath the pounding waterfall. It honestly felt like the water would crush him under its immense pressure, and had he not been cycling Essence through himself, he suspected he would be. Irusaru’s voice somehow reached his ears, despite the pounding of the falls around him.
“You will sit there and cultivate for the next hour.”
That was all.
Roy couldn’t see him, as the water pounding around him had forced his eyes shut, but he knew that if he opened them, he would be staring at empty air.
What Irusaru had asked him to do was monstrously difficult, as it was essentially like trying to look both left and right at the same time. Cultivating was easy when all he had to do was pull in the Essence. It became near impossible when he was cycling Essence to try and pull it in.
If he concentrated too hard on one, he would lose his grasp on the other. This was a very big gamble on Irusaru’s part. Or more specifically, he was gambling with Roy’s life. If his concentration slipped, the waterfall would crush him, but if his grasp on the surrounding Essence was too weak, he would be unable to pull it into his core.
Roy began reaching out to the surrounding Essence, already feeling his mind straining as he also kept his Essence cycling through his body. Despite the cold of the water, Roy felt himself growing hot, and sweat exited from his pours, only to be snatched away by the falling water. He latched onto the closest strand of Essence he could, slowly pulling it towards his core.
If the Unaru Kuma had strained his body, this exercise was having a similar effect on his mind. Roy could feel a vein pulsing in his head as it began pounding in earnest. Then, with a huge exhalation, he lost his grip on the surrounding Essence. Gritting his teeth, Roy took a few moments to center himself, allowing the pounding in his head to recede, before starting once again.
31
“Lift your knees higher! Higher! You call that higher? Jump, you lazy excuse for a Martial Artist!”
Roy gasped as Irusaru’s voice cracked out over the small area set before the waterfall, leaping into the air and pulling his knees to his chest. When his feet hit the ground, he sprawled, dropping his hand and shooting his legs back into a push-up position. He then pulled his legs back in and leaped straight up, pulling his knees to his chest once more.
This was by far one of the most difficult and strenuous exercises Irusaru had him doing, as it strained just about every muscle in his lower body. It also didn’t help that the old man had latched a heavy stone to his back, making the exercise infinitely more difficult.
“Jump higher!” Irusaru’s voice cracked out as he came up, and his knees didn’t come flush with his chest.
Roy gritted his teeth, biting back a scathing remark and simply jumping higher. He had grown used to abusing his body over the last couple of months, but this was a new sort of hell, the type that he hadn’t even known was possible.
His time to advance was rapidly coming to a close, as only three days remained until the deadline. He had yet to see any of the previous signs, but he was pretty sure that the tremors were growing worse. Geon no longer answered when he called to him, no matter how many times he tried. This worried him even more than the core’s apparent loss of memory, as it signified, at least to him, that Geon was losing his intelligence.
A muscle in his leg spasmed as he went to leap up again, and Roy stumbled, his legs buckling and sending him sprawling to the ground in a sweaty, panting heap.
“On your feet!”
Groaning in protest, Roy forced his tired and shaking legs under him and forced himself into a standing position. His back ached with the strain, and when he finally stood, he was forced to lock his knees for fear of falling.
“You lost your breathing technique on that last one,” Irusaru said, eyeing him disapprovingly.
“It’s difficult to keep the technique going when I’m in so much pain, Sensei,” Roy responded heartedly. “And it would be much easier to do so if you allowed me to use Essence while I was practicing.”
“It would defeat the entire purpose of the exercise if I did,” Irusaru replied with a dismissive wave.
Roy felt his frustration mounting at his apparent lack of care.
“In case you’ve forgotten, I only have three days left!” Roy snapped back.
Irusaru’s face hardened for a moment, before softening just a bit.
“I understand your concern, young Herald, but rushing the exercise will only stunt your future growth.”
“If I don’t advance in the next four days, I won’t have a future in which to grow!” Roy replied, pulling at the knots fastening the heavy stone to his back. “I’ve been patient, followed all your instructions and it hasn’t gotten me anywhere! All I do is physical training. The only time you allow me to cycle is when you stick me under that waterfall, and so far, I haven’t managed to pull in even a shred of Essence!”
The knots on the rope came loose, leaving the stone to fall to the grass-covered ground with a muffled thump. The silence stretched for long minutes as Roy and Irusaru stared at one another, he in anger, and the old man with a neutral expression on his face. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the old man’s shoulders slumped.
“You have a valid point,” he said with a sigh. “I had been hoping to put this off for as long as possible, but I can see now that we have indeed run out of time. Follow me.”
With that said, the old man turned and headed right for the base of the waterfall, leaving Roy to hurry after him. He wondered where the old man could possibly be going and was surprised when he leaped straight into the waterfall. The water split around Irusaru as he entered the cascading stream, falling to either side of him and not getting so much as a drop of water on him.
Once he was through, the water resumed its original course, leaving Roy in no doubt that if he wanted to get through, it would be soaking wet. Not that it really mattered to him at the moment. He was so sweaty that leaping through a waterfall actually sounded refreshing. Channeling Essence thought himself, Roy leapt at the waterfall, the force of the pounding water nearly driving his exhausted body to the ground, but Irusaru’s hand flashed out, plucking him from the rushing water with no apparent effort.