95 Day of the Expedition

[To grasp the concept behind Heavy Axe Art, I must grasp the essence of heaviness.]

Van tried to envision the meaning of the word, but his mind was blank.

Frustrated, Van opened his eyes and walked to the window to unlatch it. He took a deep breath of air and then turned his head to look up at the sky.

The stars twinkled back at him; the distance between the youth in the field and those heavenly bodies impossible to cross.

Van focused on the sky. It was filled with stars that emitted infinite light and contained boundless energy. The starlight that fell seemed to give off faintly discernible waves.

Van felt the warmth of the light against his face and shut his eyes.

An image of bright shooting stars and flaming meteors flashed across the back of his eyelids. Then, moments later, the quiet hulking mass of giant planets and suns rotating in space filled the darkness. They exuded a grand and sombre atmosphere that pressed down on the youth standing with his eyes closed, in his small room in the outer sect.

Van tensed.

[Is this…?]

The more Van focused on the rotating planets in his mind, the more he felt a faint understanding of the sensation of 'heaviness.' There was an indescribable presence; an immense grandeur.

Van slowly opened his eyes. He leaned out of his window to feel the night breeze against his face. He looked up at the sky and let his mind drift upwards into the sky, flitting past countless stars. His spiritual sense was tiny as it extended outwards, like a drop of water sinking into the thirsty sands of a dry desert. At the furthest point he could reach, he saw a giant black sun rotating slowly in a galaxy of stars. A deep hum filled Van's ears; it was all he could hear.

Van held onto that image of a black sun within his mind. A weighty presence settled over his shoulders like a cloak. Van quaked.

The battle-axe under his palm trembled as the material at its core resonated with that image in his mind.

Van shouted and swung with the motion written in the [Heavy Axe Art]!

A powerful, singular intent pierced through the room.

SLICE!

Wood splintered as metal slid through the floor panels like a knife through butter.

Van was shocked; his fingers went lax. The several-hundred kilo axe thudded heavily against the floor.

Van's dark eyes were wide with shock. His mind still buzzed; it was an aftereffect of the deep hum he had felt from the black sun far away in the sky.

The obsidian axe had gouged a deep slash into the floor of Van's room – a room designed to withstand the heaviest of punishments from overzealous outer disciples practicing their martial arts.

What had just happened…?

Van's comprehension of the essence of the word the essence behind the Heavy Axe Art already exceeded the person who had conceived of it in the first place.

This result was brought about by many factors: Van's mysterious connection at that moment with the heavens above him, his bond with the Mysterious Obsidian Battle-axe and the resonation between the axe's will and the Heavy Axe Art.

Van could not believe his eyes. He did not know that the Heavy Axe Art could yield such a powerful result.

[Is this the tyrannical strength of Pinnacle-Rank Art?  The resonation between the axe's intent and the Heavy Axe Art has already multiplied the power a single swing by 200%. And this was only my first time using the Heavy Axe Art!

Van picked his axe up and inspected it closely. The gleaming black surface told little, but Van was starting to suspect that there was another material hidden beneath the surface of the obsidian. Perhaps this material was responsible for the heaviness of the axe, for it resonated strongly with the concept in Heavy Axe Art.

Van was scared that if he continued to practice within his room, he would have no bed to sleep in later, only a few splinters which may have been a bed before it was chopped into pieces – so he snuck out of his room and headed to the Martial Field.

The Martial Field was a training area set aside for disciples of the sect. Technically, it was open to both outer and inner disciples, however, most inner disciples preferred to train within the privacy of their own estates – which were given to them upon achieving the title of an inner disciple. This meant that the Martial Field was an exclusive spot for outer disciples to train themselves. During the day, lectures and demonstrations were performed here. It was also a social gathering place for friendly sparring matches between disciples.

When he arrived there, it was already late at night. The number of disciples on the vast training ground could be counted on one finger. Each was practising diligently in their own corner of the field. Van was sure that he would not be disturbed.

He sank once more into contemplation.

By the time another hour had rolled passed, Van was able to increase the power behind each swing of his Battle-Axe by another 50% just by simply rehearsing the movement again and again. This made the power behind his axe reach 250% of what Van could achieve by swinging the axe using his physical cultivation alone.

The grassy turf in front of him was now scarred with deep gouges made by Van's strikes.

[I can still extract more power. Think, Van! If it is not the movement that needs to be refined, maybe it is my understanding of the essence.]

The youth turned his face to the sky and let the starlight bathe him. Once more, he felt a strange connection to that black sun he sensed in the vast expanse of the starry sky. That sensation of 'heaviness' returned to him once more. Van held it in his mind.

HUT!

Van shouted. The power rolled through his muscles and into the Obsidian Battle-axe. The black axe vibrated, and an intense aura radiated out.

BANG!

The axe made a heavy impact with the ground and send clods of earth flying through the sky.

The ground shook with the force of Van's strike.

The other cultivators in the field were shocked by the impact of Van's training. They timidly moved further away from the maniac in the training field, who was tearing up the grass as if he had a personal vendetta against it.

Van rejoiced.

The power behind his strike had just reached 300%.

Time passed.

Van continued to hold the image of the slowly burning black sun in his mind. Each time he felt himself sink into its image, he felt his resonance with the Heavy Axe Art and his Obsidian Battle-axe increase to a higher level.

350%

400%

After another hour of practice, Van felt his progress slow to a crawl. He was exhausted. The pinnacle-rank Heavy Axe Art was powerful but took a lot out of him physically and spiritually.

Van wiped his hand across his forehead to remove the sweat dripping into his eyes. When he looked around the Martial Field, he saw that most of the other disciples had left, but a few remained. One of them saw Van looking and gave a sharp nod of acknowledgement, impressed with the red-haired youth's intense training.

Van nodded back.

He had only a few more hours before sunrise. It was time to visit a special friend before he left for the Monster Mausoleum in the morning.

_____

"Hey, hey, down b-!"

Standing in the dark forest, Van laughed as Blackie tumbled into him and knocked him into the dirt. The large wolf shoved his wet nose into Van's palm and slobbered over it. Blackie's tail was a blur. The youth petted the vampiric wolf affectionately.

"Did you have fun spending time with your pack these last few days?" Van asked, craning his neck searching the pack for Blackie's lady friend. A moment later, three small heads poked out from behind her.

Van's eyes lit up. Their small tufty ears, bright eyes and white patch on the chest meant only one thing….

They were Blackie's pups!

The mother wolf nudged the three wiggling pups towards Van. Blackie ambled over towards them and snuffled at them from the side to encourage them to go to the red-haired youth.

One of the baby wolves was braver than the others and stumbled over to Van.

The youth extended his arms and picked the fluffball up. A little pink tongue licked his nose. Van laughed.

The fluffball wagged its short tail happily.

The other two arrived and whined, pawing at Van's robes for attention. Van placed the first one down and petted them all affectionately.

"You have some stiff competition for favourite wolf right now," Van said to Blackie jokingly. The big bad wolf narrowed his eyes.

Blackie tolerated his children's antics gamely for a few more moments before he gently pushed his pups out of Van's lap and replaced them.

The red-haired youth mock-groaned; he was being buried alive by a giant vampire wolf! The weighty woof-dog blinked up at Van as if it had no idea how large and heavy, he was.

The rest of the pack gathered close, eager to reunite with their Big Boss. They licked his face excitedly. Van gave them all affectionate scratches while rubbing Blackie with the other hand.

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Van pulled large chunks of Golden Ice Bear flesh from his dimensional ring and held them out.  Excited snuffling greeted his presentation of juicy snacks.

An hour later, the fat wolves lay around the clearing in a comatose state. One of them burped. They had gorged themselves on not only bear flesh, but the wyvern flesh Van had saved as well. Though they ate a relatively small amount due to sharing amongst four dozen wolves, the demon beast flesh was chock-full of spiritual energy and left the wolves bloated. They would need a few days to fully digest the flesh and make gains. Van expected that the pack would rise by at least two levels, making the pack's average rank to be from the 3rd-4th rank. At their rank and number, they would become a force to be reckoned with inside the forest.

"You guys need to lie low until I come back," Van warned seriously, "Once I enter the Inner Sect and have my own estate I will bring you guys to live with me but until then some people might attack you if you seem like a threat to the safety of forest around the sect."

Blackie whined; he wanted to go with Big Boss!

Van considered it for a moment but finally shook his head.

"No pets allowed inside, I'm afraid," Van scratched Blackie's ruff to comfort him, "I will be back within the week. Be good!"

The wolf looked conflicted.

Finally, Blackie gave his Big Boss one last lick before re-joining his pack.

Van watched them disappear into the forest with a smile on his face.

_____

[The next morning. Day of the expedition to the Mausoleum of Monsters.]

Van stared at his reflection in the mirror.

A young man with serious dark eyes and flaming hair that reached his shoulders looked back at him from the silver glass. His face was paler than it had been in Mountain Village, his tan fading in the cold Blizzard Plains and from the months in the sect. The set of his jaw, while still tender with youth, suggested a certain stubbornness in his personality.

Silently, Van turned away. He packed his battle-axe into his dimensional ring and took one last look at his room in the outer sect. At the small bed, the table, the stool.

Van breathed deeply and bid the room farewell. The next time he returned to the Cedar Sect, it would be as an inner disciple.

[Big brother will not disappoint you again, Finn.]