The Blood Legacy (The Divine Elements Book 1) (11 page)

*plop*

The rod started to sink towards the bottom of the lake while Elias’s hands continued to tremble.

“Huh? How did you…”

Elias struggled to get his words out due to the immense shock that he felt, but how could he not see through Calron’s true cultivation with the legendary Divine Perception?

Divine Perception was a God class technique that stood at the peak when it came to detecting the changes in essence, as no other technique or ability even came to a close second.

No kind of illusion could ever hope to deceive one who practiced this technique, and it was no wonder that Elias saw through Calron’s masking of his cultivation.

Calron’s heart started to frantically pound against his chest.

He could not have found out, could he? Teacher said not even a Heavenly stage expert could see through my cultivation!

Calron inwardly thought in panic.

How could Calron know that the technique his Master practiced belonged to that of the God class?

“Child, how did you suddenly advance to the third rank? It has barely even been a day since I last saw you, and you were only at the first rank! In a few hours, you have actually advanced by two whole ranks?”

No matter how one looked at it, it was simply impossible to advance that quickly in a matter of few hours. How would the other cultivators feel if they found this out? They had to cultivate for years to reach the same rank as a boy who was just in his eighth year!

After his Master spoke those words, Calron knew without a doubt that his secret was revealed. He felt slightly anxious about revealing the Thunder-Bird technique, as it would raise questions of who taught it him, but at the same time Elias had always been kind to him, and had even saved his life before!

Elias was the only one besides the Voice that Calron felt a kinship towards. Furthermore, his new Master shared the same loneliness as him as they had both lost their families, and were orphans in this world.

They shared the same pain of loss and it was that bond which brought forth their unlikely friendship on the first day they met, as they were subconsciously able to sense each other’s tormented past.

“It is alright, Calron. You do not have to say anything. I already knew you were an unusual boy from the moment I met you, and everyone has secrets that they do not want to reveal to others.”

At the end of the last sentence, Elias’s mood abruptly turned a bit somber as a tinge of pain suddenly flashed within his eyes before he instantly suppressed it. Elias turned to give the distressed boy an assuring smile in hopes of soothing Calron’s anxiety.

Calron’s cultivation had shocked him to his core, but looking at the troubled expression on the child’s face, Elias decided to leave the matter alone. Calron was a good kid, and that was all that mattered to him. Furthermore, the boy was now the Prime Inheritor of his family’s Legacy, and since it had chosen Calron, Elias had the utmost trust in him.

“Master, I…”

Calron hesitantly started to mumble out words as he did not know how to address his Master.

“Child, I said to leave it. Let us begin our lesson now. Look out far into the lake, and tell me what you see.”

Seeing the stern look on his Master’s face, Calron dropped the issue as well, and proceeded to observe the lake in front of him.

“It’s very calm and peaceful. It’s really beautiful, Master.”

Calron said in wonder, as he reveled in the peaceful and soothing presence of the lake.

“Look closely and answer me again. Observe the creatures in both the sky and the water.”

Elias calmly replied as he told his new student to pay a closer attention.

Calron tried to discover something amiss, but he could not see anything noteworthy besides the birds flying in the sky or the fish swimming in the water. There were various species and sizes of fish and animals, but nothing appeared to be unusual within Calron’s sight.

“I don’t see anything out of the ordinary, Master.”

Calron responded while shaking his head.

“Nature, Calron. You see nature, but you only notice its beauty and fail to see the cruelty hidden within it! Look at the fish; they are swimming right now to escape from a larger fish behind them. The big animals hunt the smaller ones. The strong eat the weak. This is an unbroken rule of this world!”

Elias softly stated, as he continued to gaze at the scenery in front of him.

“There is nothing fair in this world, Calron, and only the power you wield will decide your fate and that of those around you. Remember these words, child.”

Calron subconsciously steeled his mind, as he knew that Elias was right. Calron himself was the living proof of nature’s brutality, after experiencing the loss of his entire family, and being constantly oppressed by stronger cultivators like the city Lord.

Even now, the only reason Calron remained alive was so the city Lord of Vernia could exploit him!

“Your disciple will ingrain this into his heart, Master.”

Seeing the resolved look on the boy’s face, Elias did not doubt Calron’s words for a second.

“Let us begin your training now. Stand up, and start drawing the source energy from the legacy’s pool, but remember to start slowly in order to reduce the strain on your body. Close your eyes and just listen to my voice. Nothing exists in this world besides you and my voice. Begin!”

Calron immediately stood up and started the same movements he had learned before. Slowly drawing the energy from the source pool, Calron felt his muscles bursting with power! However, Calron stopped drawing the source energy once he started to feel a bit of pressure from it.

He recalled the first time he drew from the source pool, and the pain that he had experienced from drawing too much source energy was simply agonizing.

“Good, you are learning to control your intake. Now, continue those movements while adding more power to your fists, and start circulating the source energy within your blood vessels!”

Elias strictly instructed when he saw that Calron was steadily controlling the source energy within his body.

Calron felt strong. Very strong. He did not know whether it was due to the recent breakthrough he had, or the source energy coursing through his veins, but he felt an unlimited amount of power surging within him!

“Now, enter the lake and continue those movements underwater. The water is quite shallow at the edge, so you should still be able to breathe. You will feel some resistance as the water will constrict your movements, but persevere through it.”

Elias calmly guided his student.

Calron slowly entered the lake and resumed his training. It was noticeably more difficult as his movements were slowed down by a large margin, but Calron continued to push his arms through the resistance while drops of sweat formed on his forehead.

“Draw more energy from the source pool, and continue the movements.”

Elias’s soft voice sounded out from behind Calron.

Following his Master’s direction, Calron started to slowly draw more source energy from the legacy’s pool. His body suddenly began to rapidly heat up, but he still did not feel that he was in any danger.

This was because his body had grown immensely tougher after his breakthrough to the third rank, and was now able to endure more pressure than before.

“Not enough! Draw more. Your body can withstand it now, and without any extra pressure, how will you ever get stronger? Push through your body’s limits, Calron!”

Elias yelled as he tried to get his student to break past his natural limits.

Without hesitation, Calron abruptly began to draw colossal amounts of source energy! His body was filled with a violent energy, as waves of heat could be seen radiating out from above Calron. His body’s temperature was extremely high right now, as steam began to burst out from his skin!

The water around him started to sizzle and boil, but Calron still did not feel any discomfort from the changes happening within his body. It was as if Calron’s skin was completely immune to the intense heat surging around him!

“This is the true might of the First Layer of the Blood Arts. Now punch!”

With his muscles coiled in tension, Calron switched to an offensive stance mid-movement, and suddenly struck his fist out with all the source energy focused on his knuckles!

The water in front of Calron immediately burst apart when it came into contact with his fist!

BOOOOM!

A loud explosion echoed throughout the lake while the boiling lake-water violently sprayed everywhere. The body of water quaked with faint tremors, as the water surrounding Calron instantly burst into vapor. Further ahead at the lake, dead fish began to slowly float on top of the water with their insides being cooked under the boiling lake.

At the edge of the now dry piece of land, a scorching red-skinned boy stood as he heavily panted. There were no traces of moisture around him and clouds of steam continued to rise from his skin.

Even under that extreme heat, the small figure’s skin did not blister or crack. All the muscles in the boy’s body fervently twitched as if unable to contain that berserk energy within him.

Struggling to calm his racing heart, the boy stared in shock at his fist!

……………

Meanwhile, a blind old man stood gazing towards the lake with his cold grey eyes, and suddenly, a faint smile escaped from the corner of his lips.

*puff* *puff*

“My fist…”

Calron muttered as he absentmindedly stared at his hand.

Currently, there were a series of strange crimson symbols swirling around the center of Calron’s palm! He felt an eerie sensation as the symbols continued to wriggle on top of his skin, as they constantly changed their shape.

“That is the legacy armor of the Prime Inheritors. It is still getting used to your body, so it will move around for a while before finally settling in place.”

Elias’s calmly stated while he approached Calron from behind.

Prime Inheritors? Is that different from a normal Inheritor?

Calron thought inwardly. This was the first time he had ever heard about Prime Inheritors, so he was curious as to how they were related to the regular Inheritors.

“Prime Inheritors are the main successors of the legacy, and the ones who the legacy deems to be the most worthy of its power. Since, the Blood Legacy has chosen you to be the next Prime Inheritor after me, it bestowed you that armor.”

Elias said with a gentle smile.

Calron turned to glance at his hand again while wondering how the symbols were even supposed to protect him. This tiny thing was supposed to be an armor? It barely even covered his hand!

“Do not look down on those symbols, Calron. They might be small now, but as you gain a deeper mastery over the Blood Legacy in future, the symbols will continue to grow until they cover the entirety of your body! With your current cultivation, even those tiny symbols on your palm would be able to hold off against an attack from a genuine sixth rank cultivator!”

“What?! This tiny thing is so powerful?”

Calron exclaimed in a disbelieving tone.

He highly doubted that this seemingly fragile series of symbols could actually take an attack from a sixth rank expert, but Calron decided to keep those doubts to himself.

Seeing the unconvinced look on Calron’s face, Elias did not know whether to laugh or to cry. Any Inheritor would gladly chop off one of their limbs to obtain a legacy armor, but his disciple did not even put it in front of his eyes!

Giving a defeated sigh, Elias continued.

“Never mind the armor, take a look around you, Calron. Do you notice any changes?”

Elias asked with a teasing smile on his face. He was clearly amused by the fact that Calron had not even realized the destruction he had caused in the lake.

“Huh, what the- ”

If Calron’s jaw were not attached to his mouth, then it would have fallen onto the ground at that moment!

The previous surrounding water around him had completely evaporated. The lake had receded about ten meters back, leaving behind an entire area of dry ground with near-boiled fish flopping around.

If someone had never seen the lake before, then they would never think that this part of the dry ground once used to be full of aquatic life!

“The punch…it was the punch that did this! Master, that punch was too powerful! What is it called? Aren’t I so impressive? Hehe.”

After the initial shock had passed, Calron puffed up his tiny chest and boasted about his physical might. This was the first time that he had ever unleashed such a powerful attack, and which young kid did not dream of becoming strong and powerful?

Thus, Calron shamelessly gloated over this moment of triumph.

“Hmph, you think this is powerful?”

Suddenly, Elias stepped his right foot back while he leaned his whole upper body slightly forward. Immediately, he punched the air in front of him.

Elias’s fist moved excruciatingly slow and it appeared almost as if he was simply extending his arm rather than punching.

BOOOM!

The sound of a loud explosion abruptly reverberated throughout the lake!

The sound of this explosion was much louder than the one Calron had previously made! However, the shocking fact was that the lake was still calm as ever, and not even a single ripple had formed on the water.

Elias continued to perform his extremely slow movements, as each of his punches flowed in its own rhythm. The transition between every movement was perfectly executed, and almost as if the first punch had never even ended.

The punches might appear to be moving at a snail-like pace, but in fact they were extremely fast!

Calron was currently seeing just the afterimages of the punches, rather than the actual movements! It was simply because Calron’s eyes could not follow his Master’s real speed!

A string of explosions continued to resonate throughout the area, but Calron still did not see anything bursting apart or being destroyed. The fish continued to swim as usual, however, some of them seemed to be trying to stay away from Calron. It was as if they had seen the way Calron had previously cooked their friends.

With each passing explosion, the intensity behind the punches only seemed to getting more powerful!

Finally, Elias came to rest as he exhaled a long deep breath.

“That, my boy, is the true power of the technique you just performed. Strength is not destruction, Calron, and by destroying the area around you, you only show a lack of control in your power. It is wild and uncontrolled, and that kind of power will only backfire on you later on. Control. That is true strength. Destroy what you want to destroy, but leave everything else intact!”

Elias somberly stated, as his grey eyes pierced into Calron.

Calron was always taken aback at the uncanny accuracy of his Master’s gaze whenever he looked into his eyes, and if he did not know any better, then he would have never thought that Elias was actually blind!

Calron’s eyes shined when he heard his Master’s words. This was his first step into the world of Martial Arts, and it was at this moment after seeing his Master perform, that Calron’s thirst for perfection took root within his soul.

“Master, this disciple will follow your words!”

Seeing the childish eagerness in the boy’s face, Elias could not help but smile at his student’s enthusiasm. Calron’s actions reminded him so much of when Marcus had started to learn Martial Arts. Thinking back about his nephew, a tinge of sorrow flickered across his face.

“Um, Master, how did you do that? I heard the explosions, but your fist was moving too slow!”

Hearing Calron’s voice, Elias abruptly returned back from his brooding, and composed himself before responding.

“What I was punching was not a target or an object, Calron. I was punching the very air around me. To be able to punch something that has no physical form or shape is the basis of controlling the very core of your power. Those explosions were literally the air bursting apart under the pressure of my fists!”

Elias did not explain any further, as he wanted Calron to understand this technique on his own, or otherwise in future, his disciple would rely too much on others. It was better for the boy to start learning on his own, as that was the only way his fighting potential could grow.

“This style of punching is a technique of the First Layer of the Blood Arts! Training under this style will temper your body and muscles in better control the strength of your attacks. Take a rest for now, Calron, as I can see that you exhausted a lot of your energy in the previous attack. You have the whole day off tomorrow, so go try making some new friends. Power means nothing if you do not have someone to care for in this world.”

Elias gently addressed the boy, as he started to slowly walk back into his hut.

Calron really wanted to try executing the punches again, but he knew that his Master was right and he should let his body recover before training again. Too much strain on his body without proper rest might stunt his future growth.

“By the way, Master, what is the name of this technique?”

Calron suddenly asked, just as his Master was about to enter his hut.

Elias slowly tilted his head back while he softly stated.

“It is called the Formless Fist.”

…………………….

After exiting the Artifact’s dimension, Calron began trudging back to his hut.

“Huh, the symbols stopped moving.”

He noticed the strange symbols that were previously worming around his hand, now stood completely still as they formed a crimson print on the palm of his hand. Gingerly stroking the symbols with his other hand, Calron’s palm felt cool to the touch.

There were a total of three different symbols etched onto his palm. The first two were shaped like a sickle with varying sizes, while the third symbol was akin to that of an icicle or a needle. The bigger sickle’s ends were directed towards the tip of Calron’s fingers, while the smaller one faced the opposite direction.

The remaining needle-like symbol was in the dead center of the big sickle as it faced the same direction.

The three symbols did not touch each other, but at the same time Calron got the feeling as if they were a complete single entity. Within a few seconds, the symbols started to slowly fade away until only a faint outline of it remained on Calron’s palm.

Shaking off the thoughts of these mysterious symbols, Calron continued walking back to his hut.

“Hmm, maybe I should get some food…I’m starting to feel hungry… ”

Calron began muttering, as he swiftly changed his direction towards the gathering hall.

“I wonder what Gretha has cooked for today! Hehe, I bet she will give me an extra serving!”

While Calron drooled on the thought of the delicious food he would soon be eating, a commotion seemed to be forming in front him.

*SMACK*

Suddenly, a lump of a small figure flew towards Calron’s feet.