“What kind of risk am I taking exactly?” Roy asked, not at all liking the direction this was going.
“You have a ninety percent chance of dying,” Irusaru replied, not attempting to sugarcoat it at all. “But you seem to have the Devil’s luck, so why not gamble?”
Roy stared down at the small glass clutched between his fingers, the gold-tinged water sparkling deceptively as it swirled in a small circle, throwing small motes of light against his robes. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he silently repeated his chances of success.
Ten percent. Those were the chances he had of living if he drank the water. But if he didn’t, he had a one-hundred percent chance of dying. If he thought about it that way, ten percent wasn’t all that bad.
Still, it took him more effort than he would have liked to raise the small glass to his lips and tip the contents back.
“Remember,” Irusaru said as he set the glass down and began breathing in his cycling rhythm. “Do not let the Essence run loose. No matter the pain, you must control it.”
Roy nodded, calming his heart rate and focusing on one thought- the reason he was doing this. He’d lived his life as a freak, a weakling and a cripple. He’d been made to endure embarrassment, torment, shame and so much more by the Shah. Oddly enough, he found that his motivations had shifted just a bit. His desire to wipe out the Shah had not diminished in the slightest, but now, he had another reason to keep living.
To be strong. The strongest Martial Artist to ever live.
He knew that if anyone heard that, they would laugh, but that was what he focused on as liquid fire began burning through his channels.
The power was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. To put it bluntly, his merging with Geon had been a drop of water compared to the ocean that now raged through his body. The pure Essence was like nothing he’d ever felt before, the power contained in those few drops more than he’d sensed in a bolt of lightning.
Roy could feel the Essence attempting to escape his channels as it rushed through him, and he had to use every ounce of his willpower and strength to keep the Essence flowing through his body. Even as the pain intensified to the point where his nerves felt like they were all being immersed in molten metal, his bones felt like they would crumble and his muscles burned like never before, he kept on cycling.
Through the night he sat in that same position, fighting against the torrent of golden Power Essence as it tried to wreak havoc in his body. The pain did not lessen, but through it all, he kept his mind firmly fixed on his goals. He couldn’t die, he had to keep living. Not just for himself, he realized, but for the one who had saved him, and given him the chance to make a better life for himself.
More than once, he nearly gave up, the pain too much to bear, and the strain on his mind too great. Then he would remember his friend, the first being in this world who had seen him for more than just a cripple. When he thought of Geon, his resolve would firm, and he would fight on, cycling the Essence through his channels, forcing it to stay within the bounds of his control.
At last, when the sun was peeking above the lip of the mountains, painting the basin in shades of orange and purple, Roy felt the strain on his channels lessen almost imperceptibly. This gave him hope, and he redoubled his efforts. Over the next couple of hours, the pain continued lessening, until, finally, the last of the Essence was channeled into his core, which was straining at the seams with the amount of Essence contained within.
Slowly cracking his eyes open, he found Irusaru standing just a few feet away, a wide grin stretching across his face.
“It would appear that you do indeed have the Devil’s luck, young Herald. How do you feel?”
Roy blinked, flexing his fingers a few times before giving his reply.
“Like I need a bath. I stink worse than a manure pit at the height of summer!”
32
When a Martial Artist advanced, impurities were forced out of the body in the form of sweat, laced with the filth their bodies produced. It normally wasn’t too bad, though, as the majority was burned away with each progressive advancement. Since Roy had essentially forced his body to do the work of three advancements all at once, the results hadn’t been nearly as pleasant.
He was covered in rancid black gunk, which clung to every orifice and soaked through his robes, collecting in a small puddle beneath him.
Glancing down at his Belt, Roy saw that he was still at 2nd Dan White-Belt. He wasn’t exactly sure what benefits he could hope to gain right now, but he was sure he’d figure them out before long.
“Yes, why don’t you go rinse off in the waterfall,” Irusaru said, wrinkling his nose. “I’ll take care of the filth you’ve left here.”
Getting stiffly to his feet, Roy winced as cramped muscles were stretched out for the first time in nearly eighteen hours. Groaning, he headed out of the small cave and hopped right into the thundering waterfall, remembering only at the last moment to cycle his Essence to avoid being crushed.
He was shocked, when his Essence responded with barely a thought, flooding his body so quickly that he hardly had time to blink. Cycling Essence had never been this quick before. Not even close! He would have to compare the two as sucking a thick syrup through a straw, versus regular water.
The water hit his skin, staggering him for a brief second before he regained his balance and began vigorously scrubbing himself. Working himself out of his outer robe, he dropped it, along with his pants, to the flat stone, leaving him in only his small clothes.
As the filth was scrubbed from his skin, Roy began to feel something he hadn’t ever felt before. His body felt strong. Much stronger than it had before. He hadn’t advanced, that much was obvious by the color of his Belt. But he felt like he could do things that were previously not possible for someone at his level.
Once he’d finished scrubbing himself clean and gotten his robes washed off as well, he pulled them back on. To his surprise, Irusaru came through the falls just as he was turning back to the cavern entrance, which he could see was now sealed off once again, with no signs that it had ever been there at all.
He nodded, motioning for the shore at the edge of the pond where the water collected, leaping straight through the falls without getting wet, once again. Since he was watching, Roy could now see that this was accomplished by a split-second flaring of some sort of shield around his body as he was passing through. An Armorer technique, perhaps? Roy wondered as he stepped through the waterfall and headed for the shore, where Irusaru was already standing.
Aika was nowhere to be seen, so he had to assume she was off in the Dungeon once again, pushing for her own advancement.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that Essence control is easier than ever and that you feel stronger as well,” Irusaru said as he walked up to him, pulling his belt tight around his waist.
“Yes, it would be hard not to,” Roy replied with a grin, flexing his fingers and marveling at the ease with which he could now move Essence to them.
“I am also sure that you have noticed that you have not yet moved to Yellow-Belt, nor feel that you are ready.”
This put an immediate damper on his good mood, and he found himself growing worried as he realized that he only had three days left before his body would break down.
“No need to look so worried,” Irusaru said, noting his expression. “This is normal. We will allow twenty-four hours for your body to settle. You are as ready as ever to advance. Your core is packed with enough Essence to propel you far past Yellow-Belt, and your body is stronger than ever.”