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8.35% Paragon of Destruction / Chapter 35: Continued Training

Kapitel 35: Continued Training

Arran found Jiang Fei in the flower patch next to her cottage, sitting on a small spot of grass and studying a thick book.

She turned her head as she heard him approach, and when she saw him, a frown instantly appeared on her face.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked. Raising an eyebrow, she added, "And why are your clothes wet?"

Arran flushed with embarrassment. His training with Lord Jiang had left him soaked with sweat, and in his rush to tell Jiang Fei the news, he had not thought to change his clothes.

"I've been training with Lord Jiang," he said, deciding to divert her attention right away.

"You've been training? But you haven't fully recovered yet! You should be—" Suddenly, her face went pale. "You've been training with Uncle Bear?!"

Arran nodded. "He's teaching me a Body Refinement technique."

Jiang Fei looked like she had just seen a ghost. "How?!" she blurted out. "How did you get him to teach you?!"

Seeing Jiang Fei's stunned expression, Arran found it hard to keep from laughing. She looked as if he just pulled a dragon from his sleeve and told it to dance a jig.

"That's not all," Arran said, grinning eagerly as he anticipated her reaction to what he would say next. "He also agreed to teach you."

The excited reaction he had hoped for didn't come. Instead, her face went blank, and she stared at him with cold eyes.

"That isn't funny." Her expression was dead serious now.

Arran was nonplussed. "But it's true!" he said, surprised by Jiang Fei's reaction.

"You can't say things like that," she said with a cold voice. "I know you don't understand the Jiang Clan, but this is something you can't joke about."

"I'm telling you the truth!" Arran insisted. He had expected to surprise her, but he had not thought she would refuse to believe him.

"Stop it!" An angry look appeared on her face. "Don't make fun of me!"

She stood up and turned toward the cottage. It looked as if she was about to go inside.

Arran decided he'd had enough. She wouldn't believe that Lord Jiang would train her? Fine. Then she would just have to see for herself.

"What are you doing?! Put me down!" Jiang Fei cried out in shock as Arran picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder like a bag of rice.

For all her magical skill, she was still a foot shorter than him, and barely half his width. With her Wind Realm sealed, picking her up was as easy as lifting a child.

"If you won't believe me, I'll just have to show you," he said.

He left at a jog, a yelling Jiang Fei slung over his shoulder. Carrying her was surprisingly easy no matter how much she struggled — apart from the occasional elbow to the face, at least.

When Arran finally put Jiang Fei down, he was slightly winded from running while carrying her. Immediately, she slapped his face.

"What the hell are you thinking?!" she yelled, face red with anger.

"I told you to bring her here," a voice sounded from behind Jiang Fei. "But I did not expect it would be quite as dangerous a mission as this."

Instantly, Jiang Fei's eyes went wide as cups, and she spun around. Behind her was Lord Jiang, sitting on the grass. The look on his face suggested he could only barely contain his laughter.

"Uncle Bear!" Jiang Fei said, immediately bowing deeply. "He said… I didn't…"

"I told you it was the truth," Arran said, rubbing the cheek that Jiang Fei had just slapped. He half expected to find a red handprint on his face the next time he looked in a mirror.

"But… Uncle Bear…" Jiang Fei was so shaken that she failed to even form a complete sentence.

"Arran convinced me that I should train you," Lord Jiang said to Jiang Fei. "I doubt he fully understands the meaning of what he asked, but the offer stands if you wish to take it."

"I do!" Jiang Fei blurted out. "Of course I do!"

Lord Jiang chuckled. "Then study this," he said, handing her a scroll. "Once you learn the technique it contains, you can join us in training."

"Thank you, Uncle Bear!" Jiang Fei said the words with a smile so wide it looked like her head could pop in two at any moment.

"Thank your friend for convincing me," Lord Jiang said, winking at Arran. "Now, off with you both. I have things to do. And you—" He turned to Arran. "We will resume our training tomorrow morning, at the break of dawn."

Jiang Fei thanked Lord Jiang several more times before they finally departed, Arran still rubbing his sore cheek.

The moment they were out of Lord Jiang's sight, Jiang Fei thrust her hand toward Arran, and he was hit by an invisible force that sent him tumbling to the ground.

"That's for embarrassing me in front of Uncle Bear!" Jiang Fei scowled at Arran. "Why didn't you tell me you were telling the truth?!"

"You… you've unsealed your Wind Realm?!" Arran asked, getting back on his feet. He wisely neglected to mention that he had, in fact, told her. And several times, at that.

"I broke the seal yesterday," Jiang Fei said with a glare.

A chill ran down Arran's spine. He understood that with Jiang Fei's Wind Realm open, picking her up and carrying her to Lord Jiang could have ended very badly for him. Had she wanted to, she could have snapped him like a twig.

"Then why didn't you—" Arran began.

"I didn't want to hurt you," Jiang Fei interrupted him.

Suddenly she stepped toward Arran and got up on her toes. Before he could respond, she kissed the cheek that she had slapped only a few moments earlier.

"And that," she said, blushing slightly, "is for what you did for me. You might not know how big a gift it was, but it's more than anyone has ever done for me."

For a moment, Arran was speechless at her fickleness. One moment she assaulted him with a blast of Wind Essence, and the next, she suddenly kissed him.

"But now, I have to go study," Jiang Fei said, her right hand tightly gripping the scroll Lord Jiang had given her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Before Arran could find the words to respond she was gone, leaving him behind in a state of utter bewilderment.

He sighed loudly. The girl was clearly insane, he thought.


next chapter

Kapitel 36: Body Refinement

Arran looked at Jiang Fei. Her eyes were closed, and she sat on the grass with a look of utter concentration on her face.

It had been nearly a week since Lord Jiang had given her the scroll containing the circulation technique, but so far, she had not yet succeeded in mastering it.

At first, Arran had been somewhat relieved that she had trouble learning the technique. He had feared that with her skill in magic, she would surpass him in a matter of days. He knew it was petty, but still, it felt nice to be better at something than her for a change.

Now, however, he was beginning to feel bad for her. She worked day and night, but somehow, the technique still eluded her. Apparently, magical talent alone was not enough to learn Body Refinement.

Arran, on the other hand, had made great strides in mastering the circulation technique. Using it while running had been difficult at first, but with the instruction of Lord Jiang, it had taken him less than a week to be able to do it at least somewhat reliably.

The effects still astonished him. As long as he used the technique, he did not tire, no matter how much he exerted himself. If he wanted to, he would be able to run at full speed for hours — just as long as he kept using the circulation technique.

The downside was that if his focus slipped for even a moment, the technique's effects would collapse, and the built-up exhaustion would hit him all at once. Worse, when that happened the fatigue made it almost impossible to regain his focus without stopping to catch his breath.

"Pay attention!" Lord Jiang's voice shook Arran from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry," Arran said. "I was just thinking about…" He didn't finish the sentence, instead glancing at Jiang Fei.

"Don't worry about her," Lord Jiang said. "It may not seem like it, but she's advancing faster than usual. Even if it's not as fast as you, it's not bad at all."

Arran nodded, feeling both relief for Jiang Fei as well as some pride for his own rapid progress.

"Now pay attention," Lord Jiang said. "I'm going to teach you about a new use for the technique, but before I do, I must warn you about the dangers."

"Dangers?" Until now, the things Lord Jiang had taught him seemed completely harmless. The only risk was letting the technique collapse while he was running, in which case he would spend some minutes out of breath. And even then, using the technique he could recover rapidly.

"What I will teach you next is how to increase your strength," Lord Jiang said. "It's a variation of the same technique you've been using already, except this time, you will direct your energy to specific parts of your body."

"But why is it dangerous?" Arran asked. He wasn't exactly worried, but he still wanted to know what risks he faced.

"You know what happens when you lose your focus while running," Lord Jiang said.

Arran nodded.

"Now, consider what would happen if you were lifting a thousand-pound boulder above your head, and your strength suddenly failed."

It didn't take Arran much imagination to envision what the results of such an accident would be. And when he thought about how often he lost focus while using the technique when running, relying on the circulation technique for anything that involved risk seemed wildly dangerous at best.

"Then how do I train it?" Arran asked.

"For a start, you won't be lifting any thousand-pound boulders," Lord Jiang said. "Nor anything else, for that matter — not until you are completely confident at staying focused, no matter what happens."

"Understood," Arran said. After what Lord Jiang just told him, he would have to be a complete idiot to ignore the man's words.

"Now then, let me explain what to do…" Lord Jiang began.

The next few hours, Arran listened attentively as Lord Jiang explained how to use the technique to increase one's strength.

The basic idea was very simple. All he had to do was manipulate the circulation technique to redirect his Essence into those parts of his body which he wanted to strengthen. Yet the details were as complex as the idea itself was simple, and several times, Arran found himself lost in Lord Jiang's explanations.

Finally, though, he thought he understood enough to give it a try.

"How do I practice it safely?" he asked, recalling Lord Jiang's earlier warnings.

"Jump," Lord Jiang said. "Stand in place, squat down, then send the Essence into your legs right as you move to jump. Like this."

In an instant, Lord Jiang pushed his massive body off the ground, flying up in the air a good fifteen feet. When he landed it was with a loud thud, and his feet left two deep prints in the soft ground.

Arran stared in amazement. With the man's bulky physique, it would be a small miracle for him to jump even a single foot off the ground. This, however, was nothing short of astonishing — even if Lord Jiang had not been the size of a small mountain.

"When I land… how do I avoid injuring myself?" Arran asked with a thought.

"If you're able to jump this high, you'll need to strengthen your legs with Essence," Lord Jiang said. Then, with a loud laugh, he added, "But you won't have to worry about that for a few weeks yet."

The hours that followed saw Arran jumping up and down like a frog, over and over again. It didn't take long before he understood that this would be even harder than learning to use the circulation technique while running, and he knew that for now, all he had to worry about was looking like a fool.

It was nearing sunset when suddenly, Jiang Fei's voice sounded across the field.

"I've done it!" she cried out. "I can use the circulation technique!"

Immediately, Arran ran over to congratulate her, thankful for the opportunity to take a much-needed break.

"It's so simple," she said, looking confused. "It took me a week to learn, but now… it's as simple as raising my hand."

"It is," Arran said with a nod, "but only once you know how."

Jiang Fei had immediately understood what Arran had also learned over the past weeks, which was that the Body Refinement techniques were difficult to learn, but much easier to use than controlling Essence the normal way.

"Well done, Little Fei!" Lord Jiang said as he joined them, a broad smile on his face.

"How can I start using it?" Jiang Fei asked at once. She was clearly impatient to begin training.

"You can't," Lord Jiang replied. "Not right now, at least."

"But Uncle Bear—" Jiang Fei began, frustration evident on her face.

"But nothing," Lord Jiang interrupted her. "You will begin your training in the morning. First, we feast!"

"Feast?" Jiang Fei looked as confused as Arran felt.

"Techniques only form half the path of Body Refinement," Lord Jiang said.

"What's the other half?" As he asked the question, Arran already suspected what the answer would be.

"The other half is to eat, and eat well!" Lord Jiang beamed brightly. "Now follow me. There's a feast waiting for the three of us!"


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