Banda and Eres pummeled at each other viciously in the empty lot behind their shack. Banda clenched his fist and struck her abdomen clean underneath her guard. Eres slid back a few feet as the Armor coating her body rattled violently. But it held firm.

  Banda lunged and she flickered a kick at his head. He blocked it clean with his arm but a second kick from the same motion landed on his ribs. And in that same moment, Banda stomped her back.

  It was their daily Basic Aura Technique training. Sparring involved only Harness and Armor, with no other arts or abilities allowed. Eres had even suggested they forgo combat entirely and strike at each other unguarded to focus entirely on improving their technique mastery, but that was a level of laxity Banda refused to lower himself to.

  He didn’t use Feral Form, naturally. It gave him too much of an advantage. Without it, there were fairly equal physically, however Eres’ combat skills had worsened. A product of losing her Dance of Ishtar spell, she claimed.

  They had both improved quite a bit in their techniques over the past few weeks on their own. Enough to wield against weak opponents at least. But they were far from mastering them.

  Eres knocked Banda back with a palm strike and relaxed her stance. She took out two Mana Crystals and tossed one to him. He concentrated, with intent to plunder, and soon the mana from within the crystal started to pour into him.

  Aura Recovery was faster and could be done without the new full concentration that meditation demanded, though it still took its time and toll. A constant cycle of training, recovery, and meditation was the structure of their day.

  And the gaps between were usually filled with Eres’ stories. Most were inconsequential to Banda, and he suspected more than a few were lies for her own amusement. But he listened to them, as there was little else to do.

  But stories were not on Eres’ mind today, and Banda knew well why. They had reached the peak of the first stage.

  It was a surprisingly mundane event. At some point late yesterday, his spirit refused to take in anymore mana, no matter how he tried. Just as a human jar could hold no more water once it was filled to the brim.

  Added to that, was the effect cultivation had on his body that he could feel so clearly. Twice as strong, twice as fast, and twice as durable. He was told the same was true for his mind and soul, but those attributes were far less apparent to him.

  “Well… no point in putting it off any longer.” Eres said, as the crystal evaporated in her hand. “Let’s go see Otto.”

  Banda was reluctant. But he knew there was no other way. They had to once again show weakness to the king of this stone forest.

  ---

  “Already?” Otto sat casually at the top of the cracked stone steps, looking down on them with sly, lazy eyes. “Reaching the peak in just a month… What’s your secret?”

  “...How do we advance?” Eres pulled the conversation back on track, with a neutral tone that wouldn’t spark any insult.

  Otto held his silence with a smile, his reed hat blocking the dim rays of the sun. “Since you’re in a rush… Gather all the aura within you and flood it into one of the twelve Outer Meridians. You should know what they are by now. Keep that aura rotating within the meridian as fast as you can, until you break it open. Then keep rotating more, until it heals itself.”

  “Doesn’t matter which one. You have to open them all eventually. But if you fail, the meridian stay broken. That takes a lot longer than a month to fix.”

  Eres waited until it was clear his explanations were done. “Then, we’ll-”

  “Do it here.” Otto ordered as she started to turn to leave.

  Eres waited another moment, then sat without complaint. And Banda followed suit. She refused to explain her actions for the petty sake of enjoyment but he had seen enough to figure it out.

  Her act of weakness showed Otto enough respect as king to not demand a response to prove it, but not so weak that he would step on her as he walked without even noticing. There were some similarities, he found, in humans ways and the way of the forest.

  Banda turned his focus inward, and gathered his aura. His growing proficiency in aura techniques also increased his skill in cultivation. He found the aura within him easier to command and guide. He pulled every last drop of aura to his center, circling it with fluid control.

  He knew exactly what Otto refuses to tell them outright. These ‘Outer Meridians’ were the twelve points along the path of cultivation where the current slowed. The ‘lakes’. Otto said it didn’t matter, but Otto was a liar. If his aura flowed more easily through the meridians, so would his arts and techniques.

  Banda focused, and pushed everything into the meridian of his right wrist. Unlike when he meditated, the meridian strangely started to take in the aura for itself, more than it seemed capable of holding.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He flooded it ceaselessly and the lake greedily drank it all. It stayed the same size, but it grew denser and violent. Banda strained his focus as he poured the last of his aura in, stirring it as strongly as he could.

  The waters of the lake swirled. Slowly at first. Then faster, and faster, and faster. Sweat dropped down Banda’s face as he fought against the turbulent current that tried to break free from his control.

  The rushing swirl of aura crashed and bucked against the boundaries of the meridian, and Banda felt them start to crack. He bore the strain as the pressure worsened, and the boundaries fractured more with every passing moment.

  The speed of the current kept rising, the danger of failure blared in Banda’s mind. And with it his fierce intent. A tyrannical and savage intent. He forced the current faster and struck down its surging rebellion.

  Cracks shot across the boundary of the meridian like a thousand streaks of lightning, until finally it shattered with thunderous surge. Pain pierced through Banda’s mind but that did nothing to loosen his grip.

  He kept the aura spinning in place, even without the help of the boundary. A splash of aura fell out of the lake, and Banda heightened his tyranny.

  It spun and spun, as fast as ever. But soon the aura started to seep into the former boundary of the meridian, rebuilding the wall that shattered.

  Banda held the violent lake in place as it slowly drained away. The surface sank lower and lower and the walls grew denser. Soon the last of the lake seeped away and the walls began to grow. A bright light filled Banda’s mind and he opened his eyes to the feeling of a new meridian.

  He held out his hand in front of him, and harnessed his aura. Its strength remained the same, but the aura now flowed through it easier and faster. His power had increased again.

  “Congratulations.” Otto spoke leisurely. Banda glanced over at Eres and saw she had advanced without issue as well.

  “Now that you’re a step above complete novices…” Otto stood to his feet and drew his two long scimitars, still sheathed.

  A barrage of murderous intent assaulted the pair without warning. Banda acted in an instant on sheer instinct, darting back to the center of the courtyard as he pulled Eres by the arm with him.

  Otto grinned, showing none of the hostility of his intent on his face. He casually walked down the stone steps under Banda’s vigilant gaze. The moment Otto’s foot touched the ground, he appeared right in front of Banda with his sword drawn back.

  Banda jolted his head down on reflex as the scimitar passed through his rugged hair that lagged behind. But Otto stepped in with the same motion, and thrust the pommel of his other blade into Banda’s chest. The Armor that coated him shattered as Banda was sent crashing through a part of the courtyard wall.

  Violent aura swirled in Eres’ palm as she stepped away with as good timing as she could muster. But Otto struck her abdomen hard, the difference in speed between them far too great for timing to matter.

  The Palm Blast in her hand shattered with her broken concentration, and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for air as her body refused to draw in a breath. As Otto’s eyes were on Eres, Banda lunged like a wild beast from his blindspot. His killing intent silent and hidden.

  Banda thrust his iron clawed hand but Otto sidestepped it effortlessly. Otto slashed his sheathed blade at Banda’s wide open mid section, but the savage caught it with his other bulging arm and kicked at Otto’s head.

  Otto simply leaned back as his foot sailed past harmlessly and spun Banda off balance with a sharp twist of his sword. Banda spun with the force to correct himself but Otto moved faster. He struck straight down on Banda’s chest, cracking him into the ground.

  Blood splurted from Banda’s mouth but he forced himself to spin away closer to Eres, who still struggled for breath. He glared at Otto like a cornered beast, but knew he could do little more.

  Otto was stronger than Scar. Twice as strong at least, and far more skilled. Strangely skilled. Banda had felt it against Scar as well. This deceptive way of fighting. He had faced humans in forest who fought with lies in their movements, but there was something murky about the way these ones fought.

  Even with Feral Form and Harness, he was losing. He could push himself further, but Otto had tricks he wasn’t using yet either. If he failed to kill him quickly, Otto would realize he was a true threat, and use the Soul Seed. Banda suspected that was why Eres still refused to use her avatar despite her current state.

  Banda contemplated what to do. Otto was toying with them. He showed no intention to kill them, but Banda had seen many beasts toy with prey just the same before cruelly devouring them.

  “This is good enough, I guess.” In the midst of Banda’s turmoil, Otto lowered his swords and spoke as though the tension in the air didn’t exist.

  “I lost some enforcers recently. People who keep my territory under control and collect tribute. If you replaced them, you wouldn’t need to pay the quota anymore. You’d even get to keep a cut of the shards you collect. But… ” Eres rose to her feet beside Banda with haggard breath as Otto continued. “I need to know you’re capable of handling a position like that. It’s not a role for the weak.”

  “Did we pass your test…?” Eres asked with a scowl.

  “This?” Otto feigned confusion. “No, this was just to pass the time. I have a real task for you. A monster has appeared in one of the hunting grounds that’s making it difficult for my hunters to… hunt. You two are going to kill it. Today.”

  “...we need some time to recover.” Eres said carefully.

  Otto smiled as the veiled beastwoman appeared from the manor. She walked gracefully down the steps and towards them with serene composure, though the hint of animosity in her eyes was obvious. She met both of their cautious stares with her snake-like eyes for long silent moments each.

  Banda tensed as the feeling of aura enveloped him, but quickly he realized it was healing his wounds. He glanced over at Eres whose breathing stabilized, and then back towards the beastwoman who smiled derisively at him.

  The veiled woman’s healing art took less than a minute to restore them fully from their slight wounds. Without a care for exposing weakness, she turned her back and walked over to Otto’s side.

  “Go wait by the town gate.” Otto told them. “I’ll send over some people to guide you.”

  Banda and Eres left without a word, neither wishing to remain any longer than they had to.

  “Could you kill him?” Eres asked once they got far enough away.

  “I don’t know.” That was the problem Banda faced. He didn’t know how much Otto was hiding.

  “If that was his true speed and might, and if he used the martial arts of heroes you fought back in Cedar Forest?” Eres added some conditions.

  “No.” Banda spoke plainly. If Otto’s tricks were far superior to his own, then fighting him was hopeless.

  “...what if he only used the arts that we’ve seen here so far?”

  “Yes.” Banda answered just as plainly.

  Eres eyed him in thought. “Then we’ll wait a little longer.”