The next day, Arah sat cross-legged in the backyard, bare-chested, and sweat rolling down his skin. His breath was slow, deep, and controlled. With every inhale, soul energy flowed through his body, circulating throughout, but he was not absorbing it; he was using just enough to widen and prepare his meridians.
He hadn't stored any of the energy yet. Not truly... He was waiting until his meridians could expand to their limit, and honestly, he was impressed. He had widened them by a large margin already, almost to the same size he had when he first started cultivating back in the day, and he still felt he hadn't reached the limit yet. Only then would he begin true absorption.
But there was something else he'd discovered. Something important.
'Muscle refinement...'
On the second day of his training, Arah had realized he could reinforce his physical structure using traces of soul energy. Strengthening his muscles without alerting anyone. Kren had later confirmed his theory, saying that the body needed to adapt to soul energy in order to fully utilize it.
So he was basically refining his body and would soon start absorbing soul discs to improve his soul energy. That way, he could cut the time it would take to reach full Rank 1 in half. But that didn't mean it was easy. He didn't have much soul energy to control, and stimulating it through muscle was much harder than moving it through his meridians.
He also had to be careful, just in case Kren noticed something was off or anyone else, really.
He couldn't risk doing anything that might draw attention from people with sharper senses. So he had to do just enough to strengthen himself, but not so much that it drew notice.
Today was no different.
After several more cycles of breath and circulation, Arah finally stood. It hadn't even been a full month since he'd taken this body, but already its muscle structure had begun to take form. His efforts were starting to show.
He sighed.
Then summoned his spear. It materialized in an instant, cold and familiar in his grip. He waved it lightly, letting his breathing settle and his eyes close.
When they opened again, they were sharpened, and laser-focused.
He moved.
A single forward thrust, and a blast of wind pressure erupted, sweeping fallen leaves across the yard.
He followed with a simple slashing motion.
The wind howled louder this time.
His gaze intensified. And then, he moved again.
[Nine Sky-Devouring Dragon: Sky Twist]
A horizontal slash tore through the air.
The condensed wind pressure surged forward, shredding everything in its path. The leaves didn't scatter this time they disintegrated.
The moment the technique ended, his arms trembled violently. Pain lanced through his limbs as his muscles screamed.
Arah dropped to one knee.
'Still too much for my body to handle right now,' he thought, clenching his teeth.
He sat back down, breathing heavily.
The Nine Sky-Devouring Dragon was a spear technique, but only the lowest version, a derivative art. One he had created long ago to nurture his disciples.
Even so, it was not a weak skill. The number of people in Great Heaven who were willing to become his disciple just to learn it was enormous.
In his long lifetime, he'd only ever taken thirteen disciples. Not for lack of opportunity, but because most never survived the training. His martial art demanded too much.
The Nine Sky-Devouring Dragon was created as a lesser path, something survivable that could train people into developing a body fit to withstand his true art. Yet even then, only two of the thirteen had truly mastered it.
The rest had to modify its structure, forming their own unique paths,some with swords, others with claws or chains. They were all geniuses, and desperate for him to guide them. So he took them in, even if they had modified the technique.
Arah looked at his trembling hands and clenched them into fists.
The only reason his body hadn't exploded just now, even when he was not using a fraction of the technique's full power, was because he'd created it. He knew its structure, its breaking points. He knew how much he could push, and how much he couldn't.
"Even using a lesser version… is difficult," he muttered.
Had he attempted a move from the original art, his true martial path, he wouldn't be sitting here. His body would've disintegrated on the spot.
He sighed, preparing to return to meditation when something buzzed in his pocket.
His eyes lit up. A smile tugged at his lips.
"Finally…"
His hunter card.
Someone had recruited him.
It had taken longer than Basil claimed, more than a day instead of twelve hours, but Arah didn't complain. He glanced at the sun to estimate the time, then stood and stretched.
Before anything else though, he needed to clean off.
A smile started to form on his face before he pushed it down.
Even if he wouldn't admit it out loud, 'that' was the best part of his training routine.
He walked to a shed out side the house and opened one of the doors.
Inside was a room. The room was small, metallic, and strange. It had some runes running through it. The ceiling had several small holes arranged in a circular pattern.
Arah stepped inside and couldn't help the grin forming on his face.
He pushed it down again, suppressing it.
He moved to a corner of the room and focused.
A small pulse of soul energy surged from his body, and a moment later, the holes above began to hiss.
A cascade of hot water poured down, followed by rising steam.
Arah let out a small laugh, unable to stop it.
"Oh yes… a hot shower."
He'd taken showers before, of course, but the way this world did it? It was something else entirely. They had figured out how to bind soul energy into a weird array to turn the runes into this masterpiece. Kren had said that it used soul circuits and runes to draw and heat water with astonishing precision.
And the result?
The most satisfying, rejuvenating shower possible.
He leaned back, steam curling around his body.
For a moment, just one moment, he allowed himself to enjoy it.
'Ahh... why did no one ever come up with this in Great Heaven?'
Of course, he knew why. Most people didn't bother to create it, even though they had the capabilities. They were too focused on gaining power. Why would they waste time constructing something just to take a high-quality shower?
At the end of the day… it was still just a shower.
After taking a shower, Arah dressed casually. He wasn't sure if they would head straight into the forest or if there would be some setup and introductions first, so he played it safe. He packed a bag he had recently bought, filling it with all the basic materials and tools he might need.
He hadn't bought any armor yet, it was simply too far above his budget. And it wasn't like he planned to live with Kren forever. Until he started earning a steady income, he wasn't going to spend too much money.
It didn't take long before he was standing once again in the western district of town, in front of the large Hunter Association building. As he stepped inside, his hunter card buzzed again. A few moments later, someone appeared in front of him.
He was a young man, maybe slightly older than Arah, somewhere between fifteen and sixteen.
He was tall and lean, not bulky, but his frame seemed to have been built for speed and agility. His movements were confident, and he carried himself like someone who knew exactly what he was doing. He wore a fitted jacket with light chest plate armor.
He had messy golden-blond hair that stuck out in different directions, clearly uncombed. It gave him a slightly wild look, but it seemed intentional, like he preferred it that way. Under his right eye was a small scar, nothing dramatic, but enough to be noticeable. His eyes were bright green and filled with energy.
He smiled brightly. "So you must be Arah," he said, extending a hand.
Arah stared at it for a moment before shaking it silently.
"Great! I'm Iane, and I'm your team leader!" he announced with a grin.
Arah frowned slightly. "Aren't you too—"
"Too young?" Iane finished for him with a laugh. He puffed out his chest proudly. "That's because I'm powerful, you see! I'm a Rank 2 Tool Master. A genuine genius!"
He laughed again, chest out like he expected applause.
Arah just stared at him, expressionless.
Seeing no reaction, Iane coughed awkwardly and cleared his throat. "Anyway... you're the second one to arrive. We're waiting on two more. We're sitting at that table over there. Feel free to go introduce yourself while we wait."
Arah nodded and walked over to the table Iane pointed at. Sitting there was a girl, probably his age or a little younger. She had brown hair, hazel eyes, and a few freckles across her face. She was reading a book and seemed to notice his approach.
"Hi. I'm Arah, an unawakened Soul Weapon Master."
She glanced at him, then turned back to her book.
Arah was about to assume she was ignoring him when a voice came, not from her mouth, but from the book.
"Hi Arah. I am Tares, an unawakened Soul Beast Master..."
He blinked.
The voice was calm and a bit mechanical.
"I'm mute," came the voice again. "So I use soul tools to communicate. My apologies."
She bowed slightly, then returned to reading.
Arah gave a small nod and took a seat. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
Eventually, Iane returned, this time with two more people.
"Alright!" he said, clapping his hands. "Now that we're all here, we can start the meeting!"