28 Warrior Hall II

"I'm off!" Amon's voice echoed in his mother's room.

"Don't overdo it!" Rebecca said in response, but a smile could be seen in her face. Amon gave her one last hug and left the house.

He had left her a Bottomless Pouch filled with food and water to last two weeks. It was the amount of time Amon would be training in the Warrior Hall.

Together with Lya, they decided it would be best if he spent a few thousand contribution points to rent a room in the Warrior Hall for a few days. This way he could optimize his training schedule in the Warrior Hall, and his growth would be larger.

The time limit the Abyss Sect allowed anyone that was not from the Inner Sect to stay in Hell's Keeper City was no more than a total of thirty days in a year. Amon and Lya decided they would use half of the limit now, and the other half would be used two weeks before the tournament, so Amon would already be in Hell's Keeper City and he would already be in top shape when the tournament started.

As Amon left the house, he took a deep breath. It would take a good while for him to return.

A cold breeze blew his ashen hair as he looked at the trees near his house. He could see the leaves hundreds of meters away in the smallest details, as well as hear them rustling in the wind. He could feel the warm sunlight gently caressing his skin and the slightest imperfection in the ground beneath his feet.

He was wearing black clothes and the crude sword hung from his back. He decided to call it Windhowler, and even if it was 'just' a middle-grade artifact, it was still very suited to him.

It had been three months since he first started training with Lya. As Amon approached his fourteen years of life, he started growing taller, and his thin and frail body was starting to develop muscles.

Every three weeks he would undergo a new round of Body Tempering with Lya's help and even if it the pain he had to endure was absurd, the results were clear. He had already undergone his fourth round of tempering and his body felt incredibly light and full of energy. His senses were also incredibly developed and his soul was getting stronger by the day, especially with the boosts the Body Tempering gave him.

"I already explained to you how this training will work, so be ready." Lya's voice echoed in his mind. An unsuspecting stick was hovering by Amon's side, covered in a faint layer of light. He shuddered ever so lightly as he saw the stick with the corner of his eyes. That thing brought him nightmares.

He started reciting the first part of the Soulrousing Technique in his mind, preparing himself.

"Start!" Lya said and the stick split the air, aiming at Amon's head in a downward slash. It was an incredibly fast attack, but the stick ended up hitting nothing but the ground.

Amon had twisted his body out of the attacking trajectory, and as soon as the stick passed by his chest, he started running southward. There was a faint light covering his feet as he ran at full speed.

His steps were light and agile and he covered a great distance every time he moved.

"Very good, keep this up." Lya said to him with a satisfied tone.

Amon was using the most basic of the Movement Techniques described in the Essence of Movement Techniques he had bought long ago. It had a similar use to the Lesser Sword Art: it covered the basics of Movement Techniques and had a myriad of exercises for him to train focusing the Qi in his legs and enhancing his movements.

Movement Techniques needed to accomplish two things: allow the cultivator to move faster and for greater distances.

How one would use these techniques were up to them. The unpredictability and effectiveness of their movements depended on their experience and creativity, and that was where the Basics of Movement in Combat came into play.

Like the Fundamentals of the Sword, this manual gave the reader a few insights on how and where to move depending on the situation. When to retreat? How great should be such distance? How to recognize an opening and how to position yourself to take advantage of it? How to use feints and create openings?

The Basics of Movement in Combat covered all that in detail, but, at the end of the day, it was only a book.

As Lya had said to Amon, it was all still in the hands of the cultivator. Amon would need to learn to make incredibly difficult decisions in a split-second, and have his body move as fast as his mind. More importantly, he would have to learn to commit to each of his strikes, for hesitation and self-doubt would lead him to create openings for his opponents.

"First stance!" Lya shouted as the stick blind sided Amon in an horizontal slash.

He promptly drew Windhowler and assumed the first stance of the Fundamentals of the Sword. The sword in his hands glowed as lines of light spread through it's blade in but a moment.

'Clang!'

Amon successfully blocked the strike, but he didn't lose time, he started running again. Using a Movement Technique was similar to imbuing Qi into a sword, the difference was that the cultivator reinforced his feet and legs, and the pathways for the Qi to flow through were already defined, being the meridians.

Having trained imbuing his Qi in a sword, Amon didn't have much trouble learning the basics of Movement Techniques. The most troublesome part was to keep his body under control and to not lose his balance as he moved at such speeds.

Combining a good Body Tempering with a Movement Technique was a great way to become incredibly fast in a short period of time.Still, one needed to be extremely careful. The slightest misstep could lead to a disaster in battle. Most cultivators avoided moving as fast as they could, because they would lose proper control of their balance and positioning.

Luckily for Amon, his Body Tempering was as perfect as it could have been. There was no unbalance in the strength of his limbs and his heightened senses and reaction speed allowed him to sprint at his maximum speed without much worries. All that he lacked was experience using the technique.

"Second stance!" Lya shouted again as the stick came slashing skyward. Amon promptly blocked the strike using the proper stance.

Lya had decided that the trip to Hell's Keeper City was a good opportunity for him to train using all of what he had learnt and also testing the limits of his body. It would be a good warm-up for the real training Warrior Hall.

As such, Amon would have to run, dodge, block and strike his way to Hell's Keeper City instead of taking a carriage. Lya had her divine sense spread to not only control the stick, but to check the surroundings and avoid prying eyes.

It was a long and exhausting trip. Amon let in the morning and arrived at nightfall. The starts riddled the dark sky like shiny diamonds and the full moon stared at him like an eye. The silvery moonlight was barely enough to illuminate his sorry figure.

His black clothes were completely drenched in sweat and his face was pale. His breathing was rough and his legs trembled as he finally arrived at the golden gates that led to the interior of Hell's Keeper Mountain.

"Entrance to Hell's Keeper City is…" The mechanical voice started to sound as Amon approached the curtain of light that covered the gates.

"Yeah, yeah…" He said in annoyance as he swiped his purple identification card at the curtain and entered the pitch-black tunnel.

He was tired, sore and annoyed. Thanks to the Soulrousing Technique, he was feeling even worse than his real state. He couldn't help but give a resentful glance to the stick still following him.

Halfway through the trip, Lya decided to stop giving him a heads up for her strikes and telling him how he should block. This of course result in Amon being hit over and over again and having to keep his divine sense spread to the maximum as he kept his guard up at all times.

Amon silently walked through the darkness, using his divine sense to not get lost or stumble into any walls. When he walked out of the tunnel, he held his breath.

"It is beautiful." Lya said in a daze.

Most of Hell's Keeper City was in the dark, but the central zone was not.

Silver moonlight illuminated all the area surrounding the Ashen Heart Tree, making its leaves glow with a pale light and the trunk to have a shiny luster to it, like steel. A few crystals stood atop the buildings that had someone living on, shedding a cold blue light where the moonlight couldn't reach.

It was almost as if there was a small sky filled with stars just above the city. Looking up, the full moon shone directly above the gigantic hollow of the mountain, creating such a breathtaking scene.

Amon couldn't help but agree with Lya. It was truly beautiful.

He walked in a daze as he looked all around him. The city felt completely different during the night.

Eventually, he stood beneath the glowing leaves of the Ashen Heart Tree, in front of a black palace. Its walls absorbed the moonlight, making it seem to be made of shadows. The pillar in front of it said "Warrior Hall", and a pair of enormous silver doors from which light could be seem welcomed people in.

This was the place every member of the Inner Sect and the wealthy members of the Outer Sect came to sharpen their skills. It was without a doubt one of the core facilities of the sect, if not the one with most importance.

Amon slowly entered the palace as a feeling of oppression burst from its sheer magnificence.

The ground floor was brightly illuminated with the same crystals as the ones used outside. There were one long counter set in the side of the entrance, and a single clerk stood there, wearing the usual purple clothes.

His hair was a mess and dark circles surrounded his eyes. He gave a long yawn as Amon approached him.

"How can I help you, kid?" He asked in a drowsy voice as his eyelids trembled. He looked like he would fall asleep at any moment.

"I want to rent a room for fifteen days." Amon said as the clerk yawned again. He retrieved a glowing ball from the counter and put it in front of Amon.

"It will be six thousand contribution points for fifteen days here." The clerk said. This price included the rent of the room and the right to access the facilities daily. It was a good deal, but the numbers were still very high.

Amon swiped his card in the ball and it flashed once, showing a number. The clerk squinted his eyes at the flash of light, annoyed.

"Room 33. It is in the third floor." The clerk explained as he looked at Amon.

Amon thanked him and hurriedly climbed the stairs next to the counter, reaching the third floor.

There was just a single hallway made with the same material as the palace. A row of silver doors stood in each of the walls of the highway, with a shiny crystal above them and a number. If it weren't for them, Amon would have lost all sense of direction thanks to the material that seemed to be pure darkness.

He felt strange was he walked, since he couldn't see where the floor ended and the walls started. He felt as if he was in an open space, even if the doors reaffirmed him it was just a hallway.

"What an interesting array." Lya's voice echoed in his mind. "A very cunning use of light."

"Is this shadow thing just an illusion?" Amon was troubled as he tried to find his room.

"Yes, a weak illusion." Lya said in a dazed voice. "This is actually a good way for you to rely less in your sight and trust your other senses more. This illusion was made to make you feel disoriented. It is also a kind of training."

"Oh." Amon nodded as he understood her words.

It didn't take too long for him to find his room. He swiped his purple card at the door and it creaked as it opened inward, revealing a simple room.

It had a comfortable bed, a mirror, a small desk and another silver door that most likely led to a bathroom.

All of the food would be taken to his room daily at set times, so he didn't need to use a kitchen. What troubled Amon, however, were the walls.

"Even here they put this damn illusion!" He said outraged.

"Every time is time to train." Was Lya's comment to his outburst.

Amon took his dirty clothes away and washed his body in the bathroom. He dejectedly sat on the bed, feeling a bit nauseated and dizzy. His sense of balance was all messed up.

"This will be a great place to train Movement Techniques." Lya said with a sneer, making Amon's heart clench.

He closed his eyes as he lied down, preparing himself mentally for what was to come.